Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

INTRODUCTION
The connection between humans and the environment is important for students to explore. This lesson focuses on
how scientific understanding of waste and the impact of food waste on the environment can help to inform human
behavior. By analyzing their food purchasing, usage and waste habits at home, students will come to recognize
stages at which food waste occurs, and quantify this waste. They will then translate this into a community action
project to encourage sustainable practices at the school or community level.

By participating in these activities, starting with data collection through to analysis and creation of an action plan,
students will obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect
the Earth’s resources and environment (5-ESS3-1). This project in particular focuses on how human activities in
everyday life have major effects on the planet, and how individuals and communities can work together to help
protect Earth’s resources and environments.

In previous earth science instruction, such as 4-ESS3-1 and 4-ESS3-2, students will have explored human impact
on Earth through activities such as energy and fossil fuel usage as well as mitigating natural hazards through
design, which builds on concepts in 3-ESS3-1. This lesson explores human impact on Earth in different capacities,
specifically focusing on preventable food loss and waste. This is a particularly relevant topic for young students,
as food loss and waste (FLW) is an emerging global concern as identified by the United Nations’ Sustainable
Development Goals (http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/). The
United Nations has set a target for all nations to halve food waste and reduce food loss by 2030 (SDG 12.3), as
well as substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse (SDG 12.5). This
project supports young students in realizing that they can contribute to global solutions through their individual
local actions and creates tangible connections between what is being learned in the classroom and real-world
problems.

STANDARDS
Throughout this lesson, when Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are explicitly incorporated into
activities, they will be color coded as appropriate: Science and Engineering Practices, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and
Crosscutting Concepts.

Science and Engineering Practices Disciplinary Core Ideas Crosscutting Concepts

Asking Questions and Defining 5-ESS3-1 Cause and Effect

Problems
Influence of Science, Engineering,
Planning and Carrying Out and Technology on Society and the
Investigations Natural World

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Using Mathematics and

Computational Thinking

Engaging in Argument from

Evidence

Obtaining, Evaluating, and

Communicating Information

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KEYWORDS
Food loss, food waste, packaging, environment, reduce, reuse, recycle, sustainability, garbage, waste.

TIME
Approx. 3+ weeks (3-4 days’ work time, plus 3 weeks intermittent/data collection time)

MATERIALS
• Digital access to Why I Live A Zero Waste Life (Lauren Singer, TEDx Teen)
• Digital access to A Look at the Sustainable Development Goals
• Construction/art supplies for students to create poster or other visual (optional)
• Appendix A: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Student Workbook
• Appendix B: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Project Rubric
• Appendix C: Supplementary Resources

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HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE AND ENRICH LEARNING
Knowledge is accessed and built by:
• Watching and listening to videos and presentations
• Discussing and interviewing
• Reading text, articles, and research papers
• Viewing and interpreting images, photos and graphs
• Note taking by writing or voice recording (audio workbook)
• Mind-mapping
• Collecting and tracking real-world data

Knowledge is applied/contextualized, practiced, and understood by:

• Sharing personal stories
• Game play with flexibility for reinforcing/repeat
• Choosing personally relevant research topic or project
• Testing ideas through building, experimenting, and prototyping
• Answering formative (check-in) assessment questions
• Drawing and creating storyboards and diagrams
• Evaluating and incorporating feedback

Knowledge and understanding are demonstrated by:

• Thoughtful reflections and accurate answers in writing or otherwise (journal, test etc)
• Final product uses choice of multi-media (video, website, poster, podcast)
• Creating a product with real-world relevance/applicability
• Creating a product for users/audiences beyond the classroom
• Final product meeting rubric indicators – with student choice for what should be assessed
• Formal oral presentations; participation in campaigns and model displays
• Building model representations for visualizing things that are too small to see
• Collaborating and providing useful/correct feedback to others

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LESSON PLAN
All activities in this lesson are geared towards the ultimate creation of a campaign (video, podcast, poster, website,
or other medium) that will be a vehicle for students to educate the community about a specific concern related
to food loss and food waste. This campaign will be designed to create change in their local community. Through
data collection both before and after the campaign, students will be able to measure whether any change in
behavior has occurred over time (and by extension, be more informed about the potential positive impact of their
campaign). This action project connects students to their immediate surroundings and helps them create local
change; however, the activities are also designed to fit into a larger picture of mitigating food loss and food waste
as a global sustainability goal. Teachers are encouraged to discuss the United Nations’ Sustainable Development
Goals with students and learn about how these goals transcend science instruction; students can begin to
understand how scientists need to connect with government and/or other policy makers (as well as other groups,
such as educators, industry, and the general public) in order to solve real-world problems.

OUTLINE
Day 1: Introduction
This introductory class is designed to position students in the topic of waste as well as human impact on the
environment. By watching the TEDx Teen video, Why I Live a Zero Waste Life, students are exposed to tangible
actions that they could consider taking to contribute to a bigger movement to reduce waste production around
the world. To further emphasize the relevancy of learning about human impact on the earth, the United Nation’s
Sustainable Development Goals are presented to students as one actionable framework to achieve global change.
The project concept of this larger lesson is to create a campaign that will create shifts in human behavior to
improve (reduce) waste produced in students’ local environments (i.e., their home or school). They are introduced
to the project concept and the data collection that will need to occur before they can create their campaign.

1. Begin by asking students: What is a “zero waste life”?

Zero waste means not producing any
Students may be unfamiliar with this concept, so take a
garbage, sending nothing to landfill,
few moments to let students generate ideas with an elbow
throwing nothing in a trash can. Recycling
partner before discussing as a large class. Particularly in
and composting are key components of
4-ESS3, students will have learned about fossil fuels and
zero waste.
energy consumption; have students think about “waste”
in as many environmental situations or definitions as
possible. Record all responses on a whiteboard.

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Day 1: Outline Continued...
2. Watch the TEDx Teen video, Why I Live a Zero Waste Life, by Lauren Singer (running time: 13:30). While
students are watching the video, ask them to pay attention to the following things:
• What actions did Lauren take to create change?
• What benefits does Lauren list to a zero waste life?

INFORMATION FROM LAUREN’S VIDEO

Actions to create change: Benefits:

1. Stop buying packaged food 1. Save money

2. Make your own products 2. Eat better/more healthy
3. Shop second-hand 3. Happier (aligned with her values)
4. Downsize

3. Following the video, return to the question: What is a “zero waste life?” Allow students the opportunity to
add to their common understanding of this concept by putting more related terms or ideas on the board,
and potentially correcting any misconceptions that were previously recorded.
4. Remind students of the statistic from the video: The average American produces 4.4 lbs of trash per person,
per day. This project is focused on mobilizing students to help tackle the problem of waste and trash in our
world. However, this is not just an American concern - waste is an international sustainability issue. Students
can watch A Look at the Sustainable Development Goals (produced by the United Nations); goal 12 is
Responsible Consumption and Production. The United Nations has set a target for all nations to halve food
waste and reduce food loss by 2030 (SDG 12.3), as well as substantially reduce waste generation through
prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse (SDG 12.5).
5. At this point, Appendix A: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Student Workbook can be distributed to students as
well as Appendix B: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Project Rubric. Students will be creating an action campaign
based on one area of concern in their own local community related to waste production. Discuss the data
collection with students - they will possibly need time to collect garbage before beginning on project work.
The tracking of trash will be according to the three categories of waste as introduced in the video, Why I
Live a Zero Waste Life:
• Food packaging
• Product packaging
• Organic food waste
Depending on class needs, the analysis of students’ data collection may need to occur several days or even
a week after this initial introductory class, in order to give students sufficient time to collect food packaging,
product packaging, and organic food waste. The table provided in the student workbook allows for up to
seven days of data collection before beginning the project.

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Days 2+: Project Work
The concept of this larger lesson is to create a campaign that will create shifts in human behavior to improve
(reduce) waste produced in students’ local environments (i.e., their home or school). Students will first start by
analyzing the data they have collected on their waste production, drawing on mathematics and computational
thinking to quantify this waste in addition to qualitatively describing it. Based on the analysis, students will be
challenged to think critically and select only one area of focus for their action project/campaign, using evidence to
justify what they see as the most serious waste problem. The campaign asks students to educate others about the
waste concern and use compelling, persuasive language to elicit positive change in others’ behavior to help solve
the problem. This campaign can be in the form of a poster, podcast, video, website, or other medium; during the
campaign, students will be asked to continue to collect data so that by the conclusion of the campaign, they can
analyze data and see if behaviors changed over the course of time.

OUTLINE
1. Based on the data collected, have students brainstorm as many different problems or challenges with
current usage as they can. These can be general (e.g., “There is too much organic waste that could be
composted.”) or specific (e.g., “There are too many half-eaten apples in the trash that could be composted.”).
The goal is to get all the problems listed so that students can later refine what problem they will focus on for
their campaign.
2. Have students share their lists of problems with the class, creating a class-wide list of challenges, until all
ideas have been shared.
3. Identify the Problem: Next - students must work as a class to identify what they see as the most serious
problem. This will become the class-wide focus for an action project. (Note: There is flexibility here for the
entire class to focus on a single initiative, which can promote group unity and collaboration, or each small
group can choose a different problem to tackle). To identify the most serious problem, have students
consider:
• What are the consequences of not addressing this problem?
• Who is impacted by this?
• How many people are contributing to this problem?
4. Brainstorm/Research: Once the main problem has been identified, students can work as individuals or in
groups of 2-3 to research more about the identified problem (defining the issue) as well as possible solutions
that may already be in place in society. These possible solutions can be clustered in notes under the
headings “reduce,” “reuse,” and “recycle.” Have students document their research findings.
Research to further understand the problem and any current solutions to that problem can be conducted in
a variety of ways:
• Looking online for information about the problem; what solutions have been adopted both in the local
community and beyond
• Interviewing other people (teachers in the school, adults in the home, other peers) about the issue and
what solutions they can think of to help solve this problem
• Visiting a local recycling depot, landfill, grocery store, etc. (any place that would be handling waste) to
survey them about how they are addressing this problem (or if they see this problem - what are they
experiencing? What does this problem look like for them?)

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Problem Excess Packaging Problem Throwing out compostable items

Details Students will need to take notes - Details Students will need to take notes -
encourage both quantitative and encourage both quantitative and
qualitative data to help explain the qualitative data to help explain the
problem. problem.
Possible Solutions: Possible Solutions:
Reduce Distributors can eliminate packaging Reduce Discard less food
- people can buy items that use less
packaging
Reuse Packaging can be saved and used again Reuse Learn how to use leftover food in more
for repackaging other food inventive ways
Recycle Redirect packaging in garbage into Recycle Create a school-wide compost program to
recycling redirect waste
5. Refine a Solution: Depending on group size, have students either select a class-wide solution as an
initiative (all groups within the class would focus on the same topic), or create small groups where each
group picks a different solution to promote. The solution should fall under the category of reduce, reuse,
or recycle (or a combination of these). The solution chosen by the class (or by the group) must then be
promoted in a campaign:
• Creating a poster, website, video, podcast, or other medium to educate peers/community about the
problem, as well as the proposed actionable solution. Both images and words (incorporating persuasive
language to encourage people to participate in the solution) should be included.
• Students should devise their method(s) of data collection to gather evidence as to how successful their
campaign is at creating change (i.e., involving people in the solution). This data collection could be in
the form of a survey and/or taking garbage/recycling samples. This data collection and analysis (e.g.,
finalized tables and graphs) should be a part of the class presentations/debrief.
6. Presentations & Debrief: Following students’ campaigns, the class should regroup to present their
campaigns and final results.
7. Discuss:
• How did student groups choose to execute their campaign? Were any methods more (or less) impactful?
• What data was collected?
• Does this data support that the campaign created change in their school/community, or not? Why/why
not?
• What could be done differently next time to achieve different (or better) results?
Have students submit their student workbooks (along with their attached data collection) and their
campaign materials for assessment against the project rubric.
8. Optional Extension: Real-world experiences, such as visiting a local grocery store or restaurant to explore
how they deal with food loss and waste, can help students see connections between what they are learning
and the community. If students are in a rural area, they could also visit a farm (where is food lost in crop
production and harvesting?). Appendix C: Supplementary Resources also contains digital interactives and
games that further support student understanding of waste and our world. These can be used at the end
of the project to review key concepts and support instruction, or interjected at any point during the lesson
and/or campaign activity to supplement student learning. These supplementary resources are a useful
tool for students who may need additional support in understanding the key terminology and concepts
presented in this lesson, and can be presented either in class or outside of class time to further support
student learning.

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Appendix A: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Student Workbook

NAME: ______________ CLASS: ______________ DATE: ______________

What do you think is the biggest waste problem in your community?

How would you go about solving it, if you were in charge?

In this project, you’ll be asked to think about exactly that. Your job is to create a campaign to educate people in
your community (whether it’s your school or neighbourhood) to help create positive change. You’ve learned about
the impact that a single person can make on the environment - here’s your chance to make a difference!

Still not sure that you can actually change the world? You’ll also be collecting scientific data as evidence to
investigate whether your campaign created any change in people’s behavior and ideas around waste. Ready, set,
recycle!

The Plan:

Step 1: Step 2: Step 3: Step 4: Step 5:

Collect Data Identify the Research Campaign & Analyze &
Problem Collect Data Present

STEP 1: COLLECT DATA

Complete the following table using waste collected in your home over the course of one week.
Day - Number of items collected and/or mass (g) of all items
Waste Type
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Food Packaging

Product Packaging

Organic Food
Waste

• Food packaging: cereal boxes, egg cartons, Styrofoam trays;

• Product packaging: battery packages, empty tissue boxes, toilet paper rolls;
• Organic food waste: chicken bones, egg shells, coffee grounds.

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NAME: ______________ CLASS: ______________ DATE: ______________

STEP 1 CONTINUED...
What is the total number of each item type that you collected?

(Note: add up all days of data collection)

Waste Type Total Number of Items

Food packaging

Product Packaging

Organic Food Waste

What is the total mass of each item type that you collected?

(Note: add up all days of data collection)

Waste Type Total Mass (g) of Items

Food packaging

Product Packaging

Organic Food Waste

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NAME: ______________ CLASS: ______________ DATE: ______________

STEP 2: IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM

List all the problems that you see from your data collection. Don’t worry about solving them right now - but what
were some of the things you observed that you think are a problem when it comes to managing waste? Be as
specific as you want.

1. ___________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________________
5. ___________________________________________________
6. ___________________________________________________
7. ___________________________________________________
8. ___________________________________________________
9. ___________________________________________________
10. ___________________________________________________

From the list that you made, what do you think is the biggest or most important problem? Use the space below to
explain this problem and why you think it is the most important one.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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NAME: ______________ CLASS: ______________ DATE: ______________

STEP 3:
Use the space below to research more details about the main problem you will be investigating for this campaign.
You can talk to people in your community and look online for information.

Problem

Defining the Problem:

Details

Possible Solutions:

Reduce

Reuse

Recycle

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NAME: ______________ CLASS: ______________ DATE: ______________

STEP 4: CAMPAIGN & COLLECT DATA

Now you will create your campaign. There are two purposes to your campaign:

1. Educate other people about the waste problem.

2. Convince other people to change their behavior - and follow your recommended action.

You can choose to create your campaign in any way you like - some ideas include:

• Posters to display in the school or community

• A website you can share with others
• A video or podcast that you could publish online
• An interactive display that illustrates the problem and solution(s)
• Other ideas that you can come up with!

Your campaign should be informative and creative. Remember, you are trying to convince people to change their
behavior!

As part of your campaign, you will also need to collect data on at least three different days while your campaign
is running. You’ll want to assess whether or not change is happening over time, so remember to spread out the
days and be consistent with your data collection methods. Use the space below to brainstorm what your campaign
method will be and what data you plan to collect - this will need to get approved by the teacher before you can start
your work.

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NAME: ______________ CLASS: ______________ DATE: ______________

Campaign DATA
What form of campaign will you create? What data do you need to collect?

Where and how will you share it? How will you collect it? (e.g., photos, video, quantifying
with tables/graphs, other?). Note that you must
How can you make sure your campaign reaches the include some quantitative data (numbers), not just
most number of people? photos.

What methods can you use? (e.g., a survey, collecting

waste at home or at school, other?)

For your final submission, you will need to attach the data you collect for your teacher to review.

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NAME: ______________ CLASS: ______________ DATE: ______________

STEP 5: ANALYZE & PRESENT

For your final task, you’ll submit your campaign materials along with this student workbook and any data you
collected. You’ll present your campaign to the class and the resulting findings you collected. Use the space below
to reflect on the following questions:

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

In what ways was your campaign successful?

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

In what ways could your campaign be improved for next time, to achieve different/better results?

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

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Appendix B: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Project Rubric

How to use this rubric:

• Provide this rubric in advance of starting the project - make sure that students understand evaluation - or, if
desired, the indicators can be created collaboratively with students for greater ownership over what they are
trying to achieve.
• This rubric can be used both for self-reflection and for teacher evaluation.
• Students can choose which four of the six categories they wish to be evaluated on, for a total of 100%.
Teacher comments and feedback is encouraged for all categories, regardless of which scoring categories are
selected.

OUTCOMES Indicators (can be demonstrated in different ways) Comments and Feedback Score
Research and self- • Collects data correctly and completely 25%
directed learning • Documents information and ideas effectively
• Gathers information from a wide variety of sources
• Identifies problems and solutions relevant to the data
collected
• Makes productive use of time
Plan and Design • Shows correct application of ideas and learnings 25%
• Thinks critically to assess problems and pick the most
serious one, with justification
• Provides complete and well thought-out plan for
campaign
• Develops strategy for data collection for their campaign,
including a plan for both qualitative and quantitative data
• Implements creative and unique elements into the
campaign
Build & conduct the • Uses materials, equipment, class space and time 25%
campaign adequately and responsibly
• Builds campaign that follows closely the planned design
• Carries out all necessary data collection
• Incorporates data into campaign activity
• Actively promotes campaign in the community
Campaign • Analyzes and interprets data fully and correctly 25%
conclusion • Evaluates results and draws thorough and meaningful
conclusions based on the data
• Thinks critically to assess success of campaign and
brainstorm solutions to improve the campaign

Collaboration • Considers and incorporates feedback and suggestions 25%

from others
• Makes thoughtful contributions to class discussions and
debriefs
• Has respectful and productive interactions with others

Communication and • Communicates in ways that are logical and effective; 25%
Presentation to others, can back up ideas and have meaningful and
constructive dialogue
• Shares and justifies ideas and information clearly and
thoroughly
• Presents in a confident and engaging fashion showing
understanding and competence

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Appendix C: Supplementary Resources
Other Wonderville.org games and digital resources that can Note: To access the following resources a free
be used to support student learning, and their corresponding membership on Wonderville.org is needed.
content themes are:

Digital Resources Content Theme Description

Waste No More Biochar This video introduces biochar, a charcoal produced from plant
matter deposited and stored in the soil through natural events,
such as forest and grassland fires. It illustrates to students the
concept of waste turned into something useful (time: 5:44)
Sorting it Out: Beverage Recycling The beverage container recycling program is in full swing. Join the
Container Recycling professor in this video as he explores the many layers of polycoat
containers - things like juice boxes have lots beneath the surface
to discover! (time: 7:26)
Science Extras: Recycling, waste Most beverage containers can be recycled, but need some cool
Beverage Container diversion science to make it happen. Recycling a juice box requires that
Recycling you separate its layers using a machine called a hydropulper. This
hands-on activity shows students how to separate a juice box into
its layers.
Building with Waste Repurposing Ever wonder what a waste material engineer does? Neither
waste; had Marty and Jessie. In this comic, Quantum helps them to
engineering understand what waste management engineering is and the
applications many products that are developed thanks to engineering.
Waste Avengers Recycling, Do you have what it takes to be a Waste Avenger? This game will
composting teach you how organic, plastic and paper waste can be recycled
or composted as you try your hand at being an environmental
superhero.
Zero Waste Biodegradable Can you imagine a world with no garbage? What if we could
materials, zero take trash and turn it into useful stuff? Learn more about how
waste recycling and using biodegradable materials can come together
to work towards a world with zero waste.

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