Sort to Recycle

Katie Ellen Smyth, Andrea Golding, Stephanie

Munnelly and Sonia Henry.

Recycling
Theme: Recycling
Strand: Design and Make
Strand Unit:

Exploring
Planning
Making
Evaluating

Learning Outcomes

To explain the term recycling

To connect recycling to their own lives
To explain how recycling takes place
To build a recycling truck using Lego
To develop the truck and adapt it to make it more
efficient

Skills and Resources

Fine motor skills

Communication
skills
Problem solving

Lego WeDo 2.0 kit

Ipods
Surfaces
Desktop
Card Sort Game

Teacher Background

he definition of recycling
How a recycling plant and truck
operate
A working knowledge of the
WeDo2.0 kit
Familiarity with the
computer/iPad/tablet

Connect and Construct

Connect

Construct

Set Context: Card sort game, the

NatGeo Recycle round up video
followed by the Recycle sort game.

Pupils follow instructions after the

video on the WeDo 2.0 app to create
their model.

(link to resources:
ttp://kids.nationalgeographic.com/ga
mes/action/recycle-roundup/)

Questions to promote discussion:

what do you imagine when you hear
the word Recycling? How do we
recycle? Why do we recycle?

Exploration: Questioning; how could

we improve this model? How does it
work? Could it be enhanced? How?
Why would these enhancements be
a benefit or advantage?

Contemplate
Stage

Inquiry Based
Starter Question
How can we make
the truck more
efficient?
Sample Questions of Inquiry (Created
in Pairs)

How could we get it to move from A

to B?
What other features might a
recycling truck need?
How could we adapt the truck to
hold and sort large shapes?

Planning the Investigation

Draw or sketch adaptations
Write out what they plan to do using
writing frame.

To make a fair test:

What will you change?
What stays the same?

The Results

Recording Results
o Pictures
o Videos
o Graphs (bar charts
/ pie charts)

Analysing Results:
Think about:
o What Happened?
o Why do you think this
happened?
o What do your results show?
o What are your conclusions?

Communicating Findings
SlideShow
Create a
Poster

Video
Demonstration

SWAY:
Children can include pictures, videos and
graphs in an engaging way.

Continue
Stage

Further questions of inquiry that

could be investigated:

How would you change the truck so that it separates

the different materials?

What do these smaller tyres work better than the

bigger ones?

What would happen if we used the bigger tyres

instead?

Is recycling good for the environment?

Drawing Conclusions:
Possible Evaluation Sheet to be given to the children including
questions such as:

If you were to do this again what would you do differently? Why?

What other changes could you make to your truck?
Did you enjoy this project? Why? What did you like the best?
Possible Minecraft project on recycling. Build a recycling plant,
etc.

Integration
Opportunities:
Science: Environmental awareness and care
English: Oral language development
Geography: Caring for the environment
Maths: Shape and space
SPHE: Myself and the wider world

Assessment:
Formative:
Questioning the children
about recycling
Observing as they build
their project
Discussion on what they
built and how they can
modify it

Summative:
Examine how well they
build a recycling plant in
the Minecraft project
Observing the
evaluation sheet and
what the children wrote