Intro
We all know that recycling is important, but why? In this lesson, you and your child will explore why it is that we should recycle and how complex the process really is.
Questions to get everyone thinking
- Do you recycle at home? At school?
- What can you recycle?
- Why can't we recycle everything?
- What does it mean for something to be recyclable?
- What happens to recycled products?
- Does it cost anything for you to recycle?
Activities
Time to Sort! |
See if you can tell how to sort recycling! Get together a bunch of recyclables, and even some trash as well. For older kids, make it more complicated - have them look to see what number the plastics are, sort out different types of paper (cardboard, printer paper, newspaper). Have a race to make it even more challenging.
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Recycle-art |
Gather up different recyclables, get scissors and glue, and some imagination! Use bottles to create recylo-monsters, use aluminum cans to make flowers. Cardboard papertowel and toilet paper tubes are great to work with too. After this, you may find that you want to keep more recyclables for crafts!
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Investigate! |
What is the journey of something that you recycle? Let's find out! Watch the following videos to discover what happens to different recyclables.
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Questions and Activities for Reflection
- After learning all about recycling, will you recycle more?
- Why do you think you can return some recyclables to stores to get money back? Would you try this?
- Is it easy for everyone to recycle? What would make it difficult for someone to recycle something?
- Take a look around the streets of your city. Are there more trash bins or recycling bins? Why do you think that is? Do you think this makes it hard for some people to recycle?
- What are some other forms of recycling? Can you recycle glass jars into something else? What can you do with clothes to recycle them? How about furniture?
- What can you do to encourage more people to recycle? Can you do anything to try and making recycling easier for everyone?