Title of Lesson: The Three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Subjects: Language Arts, Science, Social Studies Grade

Level: 3rd Grade Materials Required: Internet link EekoWorld http://pbskids.org/eekoworld Internet link for poster reference http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/explore/reduce/ Recycling Symbols poster One large bag of popcorn Individual bags of popcorn Reusable water bottle Six-pack of bottled water Old clothes Glass bowls/vases Pencils & small office supplies Glass wine bottle Notebook Cereal box Plastic milk jug Pop can The Three Rs quiz key The Three Rs quiz for each student Poster board for each student Past student examples of poster Poster rubric for each student Poster template/directions for each student Pencils/Crayons/Markers Computer with internet access Books for poster reference: What Happens to Our Trash? By D.J. Ward, Why Should I Recycle Garbage? By MJ Knight, Waste and Recycling By Sally Hewitt, Why Shouldnt I drop Litter? By MJ Knight, and The Three Rs: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle By Nuria Roca The Three Rs Reduce, Reuse, Recycle YouTube Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtoeZ9Nkeqk Time Allotted: 60 minutes

GLCEs/CCSSs: Science: E.ES.03.43 - Describe ways humans are protecting, extending, and restoring resources (recycle, reuse, reduce, renewal) E.ES.03.44 Recognize that paper, metal, glass, and some plastics can be recycled. E.ES.03.52 Describe helpful or harmful effects of humans on the environment (garbage, habitat destruction, land management, renewable and non-renewable resources). Social Studies: 3-P4.2.2 - Participate in projects to help or inform others. Language Arts: Writing Standards K-5; Text Types and Purposes, Standard 2 - Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. Objectives: 1. TLW explain how practicing the Three Rs benefits the environment. (Comprehension) 2. TLW define the terms reduce, reuse, and recycle. (Knowledge) 3. TLW give examples of ways that humans can reduce, reuse, and recycle, through both writing and visuals. (Application) 4. TLW list the four recyclable materials (glass, paper/cardboard, plastic, and metal). (Knowledge)

Instructional Procedure Essential Elements 1. Anticipatory Set: a. Have the three Rs written on the board. Point them out to the students. Class, have you ever seen or heard these words before? Reduce, reuse, recycle. I call these words The Three Rs. Can anyone tell me what they think these words mean? Allow students to share their background knowledge about each of the three Rs. Alright, well thanks for sharing with everyone what you know about the three Rs. Were going to watch a short video on a fun website called EekoWorld to see if we can learn some more about the three Rs and about how we can use them to help our environment. Click on the Garbage and Recycling tab on the EekoWorld website to pull up the video. After watching the video, ask students to share what new things they learned from the video. Im sure you learned a lot of new things from the monkey and the children in that video. What things did you learn that you didnt know before? Allow several students to share what they learned, and be sure to give gentle corrections if any students were confused about certain concepts in the video. 2. State Purpose and Objective(s) of Lesson: a. Great, thanks for sharing! As you saw in the video, we can cause great harm to the earth and the things living in it if we dont take care to reduce, reuse, and recycle on a regular basis. Practicing the three Rs isnt hard; it just requires us to be a bit more thoughtful when making everyday decisions about what we do with certain materials after were done using them. In todays lesson, were going to learn about specific ways that we can reduce, reuse, and recycle, so that hopefully you are more prepared to make

those decisions on your own when the time comes. We want to be able to make good decisions about these things so that we can help make our environment a cleaner and safer place to live. b. Now we can work on some activities to help us better understand the three Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle. Well go through the words one at a time and learn more about them; Ive brought in all kinds of materials to help us with this! After that Im going to give you a short quiz to make sure youve understood and remembered what each of the three Rs mean and their role in caring for the environment; but dont worry, I promise that as long as you pay attention and do a good job of participating throughout the lesson, the quiz will be a piece of cake for you. There will be some homework to do at the end of the lesson, but it will be fun! Each of you will create a poster with definitions and examples of each of the three Rs. Well end up hanging these posters up in the hallway to show others how they can put the three Rs into action and to help them understand the importance of doing this. 3. Instructional Input Plan: a. Reduce Alright, so lets learn more about the first R: reduce. When we use this word, were talking about reducing waste. When we avoid making garbage in the first place, we dont have to worry about disposing of waste or recycling it later. The less waste there is, the less polluted and healthier the earth is. Were going to examine these popcorn bags to help us get a better idea of what it means to reduceto reduce waste, that is. Show the students the large bag of popcorn and the individual bags of popcorn. Looking at these different-sized bags of popcorn, which do you think would create more waste when you throw it away? This one large bag? Or the three small bags? Allow

students to share their responses. Show the students how more wrapping is used overall in the individual bags than in the large bag. We can see that the three smaller bags would create more waste or garbage. There is more wrapping used overall in the individual bags than in the one large bag. So the next time youre watching a movie with your friends and you all want some popcorn, which choice would be better for the environment: each of you eating from your own individual bag, or all of you sharing from one big bag? Allow students to share their responses. Thats right! The choice that creates the least amount of waste is always the choice thats better for the environment. Alright, lets test your knowledge about reducing one last time. Show the students the reusable water bottle and the six-pack of bottled water. Here are two different ways that I can drink water. I can refill this bottle over and over again with water and just wash it out in between uses so that I can keep using it for a very long time. Or I can buy packs of bottled water like this one, throwing out each bottle after Ive drunk all the water out of it. So which option would create the least amount of waste and would thus be better for the environment? Allow students to share their responses. Excellent! Alright, I think were ready to move onto the second R: reuse. b. Reuse There are three types of ways that a material can be reused: it can be used again by the same person for the same purpose, it can be used again by a different person for the same purpose, or it can be used againby the same person or a different personfor an entirely different purpose. Our water bottle example from before is one way that you can reduce and reuse at the same time. Youre using the non-disposable water bottle over and over again for the same purposedrinking water. So thats an example of an item being used again by the same person for the same purpose. Now lets think of how

something could be used again by a different person for the same purpose. How about this: have you ever gotten hand-me-downs from your siblings, or given them to your siblings? Show students old clothes. Hand-me-downs are clothes that the original wearer has grown out of or doesnt want anymore, so he or she hands them down to someone who could use them, for the same purpose of wearing them. Alright, so whats an example of something being used againby the same person or a different person for an entirely different purpose? Well, have any of you ever been to a yard sale or garage sale? This is when people invite others to shop in their yard or garage for things that they are sellingthings that they want to get rid of. Pretend youre shopping at a yard or garage sale where the people are selling lots of pretty glass vases and bowls. Now if you were my mom, who loves to garden, you would buy these vases and bowls and use them for an entirely different purpose than the previous owners did: you would glue them together to create pretty glass sculptures for your garden! Show students a few glass bowls/vases and stack them on top of one another to show them how the sculpture would be created. So thats how something could be used again by a different person for an entirely different purpose. Now lets pretend youre the person selling those vases and bowls. When the sale is over, you still have one bowl and one vase left. Even though the vase was designed to hold flowers, you decide to turn it into a pencil holder. And even though the bowl was designed to eat out of, you decide to turn it into a place to keep your paperclips, thumbtacks, rubber bands, and other small office supplies. Fill one of the vases with pencils and one of the bowls with small office supplies to show how they could be used for these purposes. So thats how something could be used again by the same person for an entirely different purpose. Now that

weve learned all about how we can reuse things instead of throwing them away and creating waste, lets see if you can tell me how some other things might be reused. How could an old toy that you dont want anymore be reused? How could a large, durable paper shopping bag be reused? How could beads from a broken necklace be reused? Allow students to share their responses to each question. Encourage them to consider the three types of ways that materials can be reused as they come up with their responses. Nice job! Okay, lets move on to the third and final R: recycle. c. Recycle So when we were talking about the first two Rs, reducing and reusing, our goal was to avoid disposing of things, or throwing things away, in order to create less waste. Now when it comes to recycling, we are actually disposing of our waste, but we are doing this in ways that allow it to be made into something new, instead of it just turning into pollution that will harm the environment. Maybe it would help to think of it this way. The amount of time that you spend using a certain material is that materials life. If you just throw that material in the trash when youre done using it, that material will die, and it will be dead forever because no part of it will ever be used again. But if you dispose of that material in the proper waythat is, if you recycle that materialthat material will come back to life after it dies! Its new life will be different from the one it had with you because it will be used by other people, it might be made into something different, and only parts of it might be used againbut the point is that it will still be alive! A material can have multiple lives if people continue to recycle it after they are done using it. But not all types of materials are able to be recycled. There are four types of everyday materials which can be easily recycled: glass, paper/cardboard, plastic, and metal. Show students the items made from these different materials. If youre ever in

doubt about whether or not a material is recyclable, look for a special symbol similar to the ones that are on these materials. Point out the recycling symbols on each of the materials, and have students pass around the Recycling Symbols poster. Now there are a few different ways that you can recycle materials like these. Nowadays, more and more public places and buildings have receptacles where you can dispose of various recyclable materials. These receptacles are usually located near trash cans and are individually labeled so that you know which type of material belongs in which bin. So thats one way to recycle when youre on the go. The most convenient way of recycling materials that you use at home is to set them out in a bin at the end of your driveway for your neighborhood recycling crew to pick up, once a week, just like you do with your trash. Unfortunately, not all neighborhoods offer this service. If this is the case, but youre still devoted to recycling materials that you use at home, you can take the materials youve collected to a place that will recycle them. The most popular example of this is taking your emptiesyour empty cans and glass or plastic bottles to the bottle return at a store. Sometimes recycling literally pays off; when you take your empties back, you get a little bit of money in return for each one of them! But remember, you can only recycle something if its made of glass, paper/cardboard, plastic, or metal. Keeping that it mind, Im going to name a bunch of different objects, and you tell me whether or not each one is recyclable; say Yes if it can be recycled, and No if it cannot. Here we go! Pop can. Stuffed animal. Pickle jar. Toothpick. Cereal box. Sandwich. Notebook. Rubber band. Bottle of water. Allow students to respond to each prompt. Be sure to give gentle corrections to any wrong answers and explain why the answers were wrong. Wonderful! Class, youve done a great job of showing me

how much youve learned about the three Rs. d. The Three Rs Quiz Pass out the quizzes. Alright, to make sure youve really understood what we just learned about the 3 Rs, Im going to have you take a short quiz. I promise you that this will be a piece of cake if you were paying attention! If you have any questions about the quiz or if you dont understand a question, please raise your hand and Ill come over to help you. Give students several minutes to take the quiz. Students who finish early may quietly start looking at past student examples of posters. Collect the quizzes. Students who dont finish within the allotted amount of time may finish later in the day when they have some free time. Make sure to grade the quizzes before the end of the day so that you have time to give feedback to any students who need it, before they start on their posters. e. Poster Making The students will create a poster at home describing ways to promote the 3 Rs they learned about in class today. These posters are going to be like graphic organizers so the teacher can easily evaluate what the students have done. Have students pass around past student examples of the poster, and while passing out templates/directions and rubrics for the poster to each student, explain to them exactly what you are looking for. There is one last thing that I need you to do for me tonight at home. I want you to create a poster with definitions and examples of the 3 Rs we went over today in class, and I need it to look similar to these past student examples, and have a layout that follows the template. We provided many examples of the words in class, but if you like you can use some other sources to help you come up with new ideas, which Ill show you in just a minute. I need a sentence about what each word means, a sentence with an example of how people can practice each word, and a picture to go

along with each one of your examples. In the Recycle section, you must also include a list the 4 recyclable materials. Also, at the top of your poster, I want you to write a sentence about how practicing the 3 Rs helps the environment. If you get stuck with this, theres a hint on the template to use the word WASTE within this sentence remember how we were talking about waste earlier and how it relates to the 3 Rs? All of your text needs to be written in your own words so that I can be sure youve understood what youve learned. Go through a couple of past student examples thoroughly to show how those students met each of the requirements with their poster. You can make your poster by hand, writing out your text and drawing your pictures, or you can make it on the computer and print it out, typing out your text and using pictures from the computerits up to you! Either way, I want you to make it colorful and eyecatching because we will be hanging them up in the hallway to tell others about what we have learned. I will be providing you with poster board, so dont worry about that. Make sure you closely follow your template, directions, and rubric to guide you through the process. Remember to be creative and have fun making it! Finally, show students the books they may check out from the classroom library to help them come up with ideas for their poster. Also have the Internet link posted on the board (http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/explore/reduce/) so that students may write it down and use it as a reference if they wish. Give students some time to look through the past student examples and the reference books, and encourage students to ask any questions about the poster they might have. Make sure that each student picks up a sheet of poster board before going home for the day. This project is homework, but if students have free time during the day, they may use classroom supplies to start working on it.

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4. Assessment: a. Oral Student Responses All of these are informal formative assessments and can be found in the Anticipatory Set, in sections (a), (b), and (c) of the Instructional Input Plan, and in section (a) of the Closure. Collectively, these assessments measure all four objectives. Having students orally respond to questions during instruction and discussion is a simple way for the teacher to make sure that they are generally understanding and retaining the information well enough to independently accomplish the objectives when it comes time for later, more formal assessments. b. The Three Rs Quiz This is a formal formative assessment which can be found in section (d) of the Instructional Input Plan. This assessment measures all four objectives. Having students complete this quiz independently is an effective way for the teacher to make sure that each child has understood and retained the information well enough to independently accomplish the objectives when it comes time for the formal summative assessment. c. Poster Making This is a formal summative assessment which can be found in section (e) of the Instructional Input Plan. This assessment measures all four objectives. Having students make individualized posters about the Three Rs is an effective way for the teacher to make sure that each child has understood and retained the information well enough to independently accomplish the objectives and is ready to move on to new learning. 5. Closure: a. Summary of learning Close out the lesson by playing the YouTube video. Then have students share a few different things that they have learned throughout the lesson.

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b. Reinforcement of objectives Thanks for sharing what you learned from todays lesson about the 3 Rs. Remember that we need to practice the 3 Rs on a daily basis to protect the environment, or to limit the amount of waste that gets dumped into the environment. I hope that you encourage others to practice the 3 Rs, too, so that together we can keep our environment a clean and safe place to live!

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Recycling Symbols

Metal Recycling Symbol

Paper/Cardboard Recycling Symbol

Plastic Recycling Symbols

Glass Recycling Symbol

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The Three Rs Quiz Key (13 pts. total)

1. What is the connection between the Three Rs and waste? Circle the letter of the best answer. (1 pt.) a. Practicing the Three Rs increases the amount of waste in the environment, which makes the environment cleaner and healthier. b. Practicing the Three Rs reduces the amount of waste in the environment, which makes the environment cleaner and healthier. c. There is no connection between the Three Rs and waste. 2. For each of the comparisons below, circle the option which reduces waste. (1 pt. each, 4 total) - one giant bag of cereal OR several normal-size boxes of cereal - disposable camera OR digital camera - several normal-size notebooks OR one thick notebook - rechargeable batteries OR normal batteries 3. On the line next to each item, write a short phrase about how you could reuse it. (1 pt. each, 3 total) - scraps of colored paper ____________answers will vary_______ - an old blanket _______________answers will vary___________ - a pickle jar _____________answers will vary_______________

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4. After reading over the list of materials below, circle the letters of the 4 materials that can be recycled, or are recyclable. (1 pt. each, 4 total) a. glass b. cotton c. wood d. paper/cardboard e. rubber f. plastic g. metal h. stone 5. Which of the following is not a proper way to recycle? Circle the letter of the best answer. (1 pt.) a. Put recyclable materials in public recycling receptacles or bins b. Set out recyclable materials at the end of your driveway so that your neighborhood recycling crew can pick them up c. Throw recyclable materials in the trash d. Take recyclable materials to a store or other place that offers recycling services OPTIONAL: In the space below, draw a picture to go along with one of your answers from question #3. answers will vary

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Name:________________________

The Three Rs Quiz

1. What is the connection between the Three Rs and waste? Circle the letter of the best answer. a. Practicing the Three Rs increases the amount of waste in the environment, which makes the environment cleaner and healthier. b. Practicing the Three Rs reduces the amount of waste in the environment, which makes the environment cleaner and healthier. c. There is no connection between the Three Rs and waste. 2. For each of the comparisons below, circle the option which reduces waste. - one giant bag of cereal OR several normal-size boxes of cereal - disposable camera OR digital camera - several normal-size notebooks OR one thick notebook - rechargeable batteries OR normal batteries 3. On the line next to each item, write a short phrase about how you could reuse it. - scraps of colored paper ________________________________ - an old blanket _______________________________________ - a pickle jar _________________________________________

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4. After reading over the list of materials below, circle the letters of the 4 materials that can be recycled, or are recyclable. a. glass b. cotton c. wood d. paper/cardboard e. rubber f. plastic g. metal h. stone 5. Which of the following is not a proper way to recycle? Circle the letter of the best answer. a. Put recyclable materials in public recycling receptacles or bins b. Set out recyclable materials at the end of your driveway so that your neighborhood recycling crew can pick them up c. Throw recyclable materials in the trash d. Take recyclable materials to a store or other place that offers recycling services OPTIONAL: In the space below, draw a picture to go along with one of your answers from question #3.

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The Three Rs Poster Rubric

Excellent Statement (8) Statement is clear, written in your own words, and shows connection between the 3 Rs and waste (7-8) Definition included for each of the 3 Rs; all 3 definitions are clear, accurate, and written in your own words (10-12) Example included for each of the 3 Rs; all 3 examples are accurate and mention specific materials/items and ways to practice the 3 Rs (10-12) Good Statement is written in your own words and shows connection between the 3 Rs and waste (5-6) Definition included for each of the 3 Rs, but only 2 definitions are clear, accurate, and written in your own words (7-9) Example included for each of the 3 Rs, but only 2 examples are accurate and mention specific materials/items and ways to practice those Rs (7-9) Okay Statement shows connection between the 3 Rs and waste (3-4) Poor Statement is included but does not show connection between the 3 Rs and waste (1-2) Definitions included for only 12 of the 3 Rs (1-3) Unacceptable Statement not included (0)

Definitions (12)

Examples (12)

Definition included for each of the 3 Rs, but only 1 definition is clear, accurate, and written in your own words (4-6) Example included for each of the 3 Rs, but only 1 example is accurate and mentions a

No definitions included (0)

Examples included for only 12 of the 3 Rs (1-3)

No examples included (0)

specific

material/item and way to practice that R (4-6)

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Pictures (4)

Picture included for each of the 3 Rs; all pictures go along with their examples (4) All 4 materials included (4)

Picture included for each of the 3 Rs, but only 2 pictures go along with their examples (3) 3 of 4 materials included (3)

List of Recyclable Materials (4) Poster Layout (4)

Picture included for each of the 3 Rs, but only 1 picture goes along with its example (2) 2 of 4 materials included (2) Some layout guidelines were followed; layout is somewhat similar to template (2)

Pictures included for only 12 of the 3 Rs (1)

No pictures included (0)

1 of 4 List not materials included (0) included (1) Hardly any layout guidelines were followed; layout looks very different from template (1) No layout guidelines were followed; layout doesnt look at all like template (0)

All layout guidelines were followed; layout matches template (4)

Most layout guidelines were followed; layout is very similar to template (3)

COMMENTS:

TOTAL SCORE: ___/44

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The Three Rs Poster Directions

*Your task: to create a colorful, eye-catching poster which shows how much youve learned about the Three Rsand which can teach others about the Three Rs, too! *On your poster, you will need to include - A one-sentence statement about how practicing the Three Rs helps the environment (HINT: use the word WASTE somewhere in your sentence!) - 3 one-sentence definitions, one for each of the Three Rs - 3 one-sentence examples, one for each of the Three Rs, of how people can practice the Three Rs (NOTE: each example must mention a specific material/item and a specific way of using that material/item to practice that R!) - 3 pictures to go along with your examples, one for each of your examples (NOTE: each picture must show the material/item and/or the way of using that material/item from the example that it goes along with!) - A list of the 4 recyclable materials, to be included in the Recycle section of the poster *Everything you write needs to be written IN YOUR OWN WORDS!!! *You may create your poster by hand or with the help of a computer whichever you prefer. Be creative and have fun with it! =) *Be sure to use these directions, your rubric, and the template to guide you as you make your poster. Part of your grade is based on how closely you follow the template layout, so be sure to pay careful attention to that! Also, if you have trouble remembering something or coming up with ideas, feel free to take a look at one of the books you checked out from class or this website: http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/explore/reduce/.

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The Three Rs Poster Template

TOP OF POSTER: Statement about how practicing the Three Rs helps the environment (look for the HINT in the directions!)

Reduce
Definition Example
Picture

Reuse
Definition Example
Picture

The Three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Definition Example List of 4 Recyclable Materials

Picture
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Recycle