Where does our garbage go? What is the difference between a recyclable and non-recyclable item? Pose these important, but often overlooked, questions to your class and invite them to consider the lasting and damaging effects of the...

Students review the garbage/landfill graphs included with the lesson. They discuss the information on the graphs and discuss which garbage products come from their homes. Students collect examples of over packaging to share with class...

Students observe the difference between degradable and non-degradable wastes. They create their own landfill in a jar by adding four or five pieces of garbage and then covering it with dirt and water. They make observations on what they...

Learners develop an understanding of waste and its effects.  In this managing waste lesson students participate in one of a few activities including creating a poster, summarizing an article or writing a research paper. 

Students discuss the "junk mail nuisance" with the teacher and share their opinions on the problem. Students collect a week's worth of junk mail, bring to class and complete a chart about the amount and weight. Students then complete an...

Students work in cooperative groups to estimate how long trash lasts in a landfill. They study environmental consequences of not recycling and use graph-making software to create a graph that illustrates the lifespan of trash items...

Students examine how a sanitary landfill is constructed, how it functions, and how waste and leachate affects the areas around the landfill. After a discussion about landfills and leachates, students construct a Sanitary Landfill Model...

Learners conduct an experiment in which they bury four objects (apple, lettuce, plastic and styrofoam) in the ground and come back to observe them a month later. They consider what biodegrades and how it affects our planet.

Young scholars identify items commonly sent to landfills and summarize percentages/fractions of different items in landfills Students create a pizza pie graph of landfill components

After researching the political and environmental issues around Toronto, Ontario's shipment of its waste to Ann Arbor, Michigan, students will hold a debate and write an opinion paper.