Author Archives: Jane Knipp

Draft – O – Meter

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Students do a draft audit at home.

  • Grade Level: K-3
  • Subjects: Science, Social Studies, Art

Materials 

  • Pencil
  • Tape
  • Plastic food wrap

Activities

Students will learn an easy technique to find drafts in their homes and classrooms.

  1. Cut a 12cm by 25cm strip of plastic wrap.
  2. Tape the shorter edge of the wrap to a pencil and let the rest hang freely.
  3. Blow plastic wrap gently and note how sensitive the wrap is to air movement. Drafts mean that air is leaking into or out of a building. This means either a loss of heat in winter or a loss of air conditioning in summer.

Trash Monster

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Each child brings in one recyclable trash item and the class builds a monster sculpture out of the trash.

  • Grade Level: K-3
  • Subjects: Social Studies, Art

Activities

Students will each bring in one recyclable trash item, and together they will build a trash monster sculpture. The class can vote on his/her name and decide on the monster’s super power. Add clothing or accessories to the sculpture as long as they are recyclable. Put the Trash Monsters on display for Halloween. Students may write stories about the trash monster as an extension.

Weekly Round Up

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Show the amount of waste produced weekly by using disposable lunch / snack products.

  • Grade Level: K-3
  • Subjects: Science, Social Studies, Math

Activities

The students will collect and count the amount of food wrappers, bags, and containers they dispose of on a weekly basis. Then students will create a bar graph to represent the data to others. After the first week, the students will explore ways to cut down on the amount of trash they produce and may present ideas to other classes. The students will then create a short report to present their findings to their parents. Challenge the class to reduce their lunch and snack trash.

Suggestions:

  • Use more eco-friendly wrappers such as unbleached, compostable wax paper baggies, or reusable stainless steel or plastic containers which are BPA free.
  • Encourage parents to buy snacks in bulk versus pre-packaged.
  • Encourage the use of stainless steel reusable bottles for their drinks.
  • Encourage the use of reusable lunch sacks (fabric, stainless steel, recyclable plastic).
  • Suggest making a worm composter for your classroom to compost the paper wrappers that are used.
  • Encourage home-made snacks versus pre-packaged.

Cold Food Only Day

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Create a Cold Food Only Day to show the amount of energy consumed in preparing food.

  • Grade Level: K-3
  • Subjects: Social Studies, Math
  • Suggested Time: 1 hour, plus the Cold Food Only Day

Materials

Chalkboard or whiteboard, Cold Foods Only Day Worksheet, pencils, poster board and crayons or markers.

National Standards

Math:

  • Compute fluently and make reasonable estimates.
  • Understand measurable attributes of objects and the units, systems, and processes of measurement.
  • Formulate questions that can be addressed with data and collect, organize, and display relevant data to answer them.

Social Studies:

  • Scarcity.
  • The environment and society.
  • Roles of the citizen.

Ohio 2010 Standards

Math:

  • Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and how many more or less are in one category than in another. (1)
  • Draw a picture graph and a bar graph to represent a data set with up to four categories. Solve simple put together, take-apart, and compare problems using information presented in a bar graph. (2)
  • Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step “how many more” and “how many less” problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs. (3)

 
Social Studies:

  • Individuals have shared responsibilities toward the achievement of common goals in homes, schools and communities. (K)
  • Families interact with the physical environment differently in different times and places. (1)
  • Human activities alter the physical environment, both positively and negatively. (2)
  • Evidence of human modification of the environment can be observed in the local community. (3)
  • Individuals make the community a better place by solving problems in a way that promotes the common good. (3)

Objectives

The student will be able to:

  • Explain how energy is used in the kitchen.
  • Add, subtract, and create a bar graph to compare energy costs.
  • Create a cold foods only menu.
  • Plan and advertise a school-wide Cold Food Only Day.

Teacher Preparation

  • Gain support from the building principal and kitchen staff to hold a Cold Food Only Day.

Variations:

  • For kindergarten, do not use the worksheet or graphing activity. Instead, ask students to draw pictures of cold foods after discussing how hot foods require energy to prepare. You might take a trip to the cafeteria or lunch room to see the types of hot foods served at school. Hold a cold food snack time instead of lunch.
  • For first grade, do not use the graphing activity.

Introduction

  • Ask students to name their favorite school lunches.
  • Brainstorm on the board how energy is used to prepare a hot school lunch (stove, oven, microwave, washing dishes, refrigeration).
  • Ask students how they could conserve energy during food preparation.
  • Inform students that they will be creating a menu for a Cold Food Only Day for the whole school.

Activities

  • Distribute the Cold Food Only Day Worksheet. As a class, read through the table and answer questions 1-3.
  • Have students create a bar graph representing the amount of energy used by each method.
  • Using the bar graph, answer questions 5-7.
  • Individually or in small groups, ask students to brainstorm cold foods from every food group. (Explain or review the food groups if necessary.)
  • As a class, list on the board some cold food ideas from each food group. Then take a vote to choose 2 from each category to create the cold food menu.
  • Explain that you will submit the menu to the kitchen staff and they will choose between the different menus each class created.
  • Break students into groups to create Cold Food Only Day posters to inform others about the day. Include the date and how cold food saves energy.

Extensions

  • Discuss why one might prepare foods in a particular way, even if it costs more.
  • Discuss why the large commercial ovens at school cost more to use than home appliances (though may not be more per serving).
  • The teacher may contact a local newspaper or news station and invite them to cover the Cold Food Only Day.
  • Students may create a plan for saving energy in the kitchen at home and present it to their families. They may hold a Cold Food Only Day or Meal at home.

Closing

  • Review the lesson and ask students to think of ways to save energy when storing cold foods in the refrigerator (such as closing the door quickly, getting all items out at once, returning all items at once, and keeping the refrigerator full versus empty).
  • Congratulate students on the success of Cold Food Only Day.

Worksheet

See: Cold Food Only Day Worksheet

No Paper Day

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Plan and participate in a school day using non-paper alternatives.

  • Grade Level: K-3
  • Subjects: Science, Social Studies, Language Arts
  • Suggested Time: 2 class periods, plus the No Paper Day

Materials

Poster boards and markers or crayons, chalk/white board, dry erase boards with erasers and refillable markers (optional), classroom laptop set (optional), a few sheets of scrap paper for signs, and paper recycling bins.

National Standards

Science:

  • Organisms and their environments.
  • Properties of earth materials.
  • Communicate a problem, design, and solution.
  • Types of resources.
  • Changes in environments.
  • Science and technology in local challenges.

Social Studies:

  • Scarcity.
  • Environment and society.

Language Arts:

  • Communication skills.

Ohio 2010 Standards

Science:

  • Objects and materials can be sorted and described by their properties. (K)
  • Properties of objects and materials change. (1)
  • Living things have basic needs, which are met by obtaining materials from the physical environment. (1)
  • Living things cause changes on Earth. (2)
  • Some of Earth’s resources are limited. (3)

Social Studies:

  • Individuals have shared responsibilities toward the achievement of common goals in homes, schools and communities. (K)
  • Families interact with the physical environment differently in different times and places. (1)
  • Human activities alter the physical environment, both positively and negatively. (2)
  • Evidence of human modification of the environment can be observed in the local community. (3)
  • Individuals make the community a better place by solving problems in a way that promotes the common good. (3)

Language Arts:

  • Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade level topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. (K-2).
  • Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. (3)

Objectives

The student will be able to:

  • Explain the need to reduce paper use.
  • Identify ways to reduce paper use.
  • Create a poster to inform others about paper use, environmental effects, and paper saving strategies.
  • Plan and advertise a school-wide No Paper Day, including a paper recycling drive.

Teacher Preparation

  • Gain support from the building principal and other staff to hold a No Paper Day.

Introduction

  • Ask students to brainstorm on the board all the ways that they use paper at school and at home (create two columns).
  • Ask students how the 3 “R’s” can be used to save paper.
  • Inform students that they will be sponsoring a No Paper Day for the whole school, which will combine reducing, reusing, and recycling strategies.

Activities

  • Ask students why it is important to save paper. Help them to understand that paper comes from trees. New trees can be planted, but it takes a long time for them to grow. Trees help clean the air we breathe, so if we don’t have enough trees, we won’t have enough clean air.
  • Ask students to use the “three Rs” to list ways to save paper. They may write their ideas on the board. Ideas may include using both sides of paper, using computers (email, scanning, electronic documents) instead of paper, printing on both sides of paper, using scrap paper, buying recycled paper, using thinner toilet paper, using less paper plates, napkins, and paper towels, and recycling paper and cardboard.
  • Go through the following tips for the No Paper Day:
  • Use no new paper, only scrap paper (already been put in the recycle bin).
  • Encourage students to bring lunches in reusable, non-paper lunch bags.
  • Art teachers should use non-paper mediums, preferably re-usable mediums such as canvas or clay.
  • Use paper alternatives such as the chalkboard, laptops (students may email teachers work), or individual whiteboards with refillable dry-erase markers to do classroom work.
  • Obtain permissions to unplug copiers and printers for the day, and create signs from scrap paper to explain the reason.
  • Identify exceptions for the No Paper Day (such as toilet paper, tissues, and cafeteria napkins).
  • Plan the No Paper Day campaign. Break students into small groups and assign one of the following activities to each group (choose those appropriate for your class):
  • Create posters advertising No Paper Day, including a paper recycling drive. Encourage students to bring lunches in a reusable lunch bag, and to bring paper from home for recycling collection.
  • Create a poster about ways to save paper and why it’s important. Students should present to the class and other classes if possible.
  • Write a letter using a computer word processing program, announcing and explaining No Paper Day to staff members. Type and email the letter to the staff listserv and ask staff to advertise No Paper Day to their students.
  • Write a PA announcement advertising No Paper Day, including the paper recycling drive. Students from the group may take turns reading the announcement on different days leading up to the No Paper Day, if possible.
  • Create signs to post on printers and copiers explaining why they are turned off during No Paper Day.
  • Hold the No Paper Day, including the paper recycling drive.

Extensions:

  • Students may start a classroom scrap paper bin if one does not already exist.
  • The Energy Savings Patrol may add paper recycling to their patrol. Students may look to see whether paper is thrown in garbage cans or recycling bins.
  • The teacher may contact a local newspaper or news station and invite them to cover the No Paper Day.
  • Students may create a plan for saving paper at home and present it to their families. They may hold a No Paper Day at home by turning off printers, using cloth napkins, purchasing recycled toilet paper, using only scrap paper for writing, etc.

Closing

  • Review the lesson and congratulate students on the success of No Paper Day.
  • Ask students to identify ways to save paper they could continue on a more permanent basis. Write the plan on the board and ask students to sign their names as a pledge to continue saving paper. Encourage students to be a spokesperson for ongoing paper-saving practices in their other classes.

Recycled Clothing

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Customize old clothes into wearable ways to save energy.

Students turn old clothes into new items that remind others to save energy.

  • Grade Level: 4-6
  • Subjects: Social Studies, Art

Examples:

  • Appliqué a low energy light bulb onto a tee –shirt or baseball cap.
  • Graffiti stencil clothes with "switch off" slogans to remind people to turn off lights.
  • Use fabric paint or Sharpie markers to draw pictures of a clean earth on a pocket or other clothing.
  • Teach students how to mend holes, buttons, and other simple sewing tasks to preserve used clothing.
  • The class may hold a recycled clothing fashion show.

Tips

  • Keep it simple.
  • Use a clear message – very few carefully chosen words or symbols.
  • Tidy presentation – plan where you are going to put everything before you do anything (make a plan on a separate piece of paper).
  • There are many websites with designs to use as models.
  • The lesson could be divided into two sessions. Session 1 is to present a plan on a piece of paper. Session 2 is to recycle a piece of clothing to show how to recycle.

Food Journey

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Discover the journey made by different foods, from point of production to your plate.

  • Grade Level: K-3
  • Subjects: Social Studies, Math
  • Suggested Time: 1-2 hours

Materials

Chalk/whiteboard, paper and pencils, U.S. and world maps, foods brought in by class and/or teacher, copies of map (1 per student, optional), atlas or computers with internet access (optional).

National Standards

Social Studies:

  • The world in spatial terms.
  • Places and regions.Environment and society.

Math:

  • Understand meanings of operations and how they relate to one another.
  • Compute fluently and make reasonable estimates.
  • Formulate questions that can be addressed with data and collect, organize, and display relevant data to answer them.
  • Problem solving.
  • Connections.

Ohio 2010 Standards

  • Social Studies:
  • Models and maps represent places. (K)
  • Humans depend on and impact the physical environment in order to supply food, clothing and shelter. (K)
  • Maps can be used to locate and identify places. (1)
  • Maps and their symbols can be interpreted to answer questions about location of places. (2)
  • Physical and political maps have distinctive characteristics and purposes. (3)
  • Families interact with the physical environment differently in different times and places. (1)
  • Human activities alter the physical environment, both positively and negatively. (2)
  • Systems of transportation and communication move people, products and ideas from place to place. (3)

Math:

  • Solve word problems that call for addition of three whole numbers whose sum is less than or equal to 20. (1)
  • Add within 100, including adding a two-digit number and a one-digit number. (1)
  • Add up to four two-digit numbers using strategies based on place value and properties of operations. (2)Add and subtract within 1000, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place values, properties of operations and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction. (2)
  • Use addition and subtraction within 100 to solve word problems involving lengths that are given in the same units. (2)
  • Fluently add and subtract within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction. (3)

Objectives

The student will be able to:

  • Read food labels to determine where foods have been shipped from.
  • Locate other states and countries on a map or globe.
  • Calculate the fuel cost of transporting the foods to local supermarkets.
  • Name foods that can be grown and purchased locally.

Introduction

  • Ask students where the food they eat comes from. How does it get to grocery stores?
  • Assign homework for students to look at the food in their homes and find an item from another state or country. Tell students they will learn where food comes from and what it takes to get from there to their plate.

Activities

  • Ask students what foods they brought and where the food came from. Make a chart on the board or overhead.
  • Students should locate those states and countries on a map or globe.
  • Ask students how food might travel from those locations. Students may draw a picture of the most likely type(s) of transportation next to the food on the chart.
  • Use an atlas, map with key, or web sites below to determine the approximate number of miles the food traveled. Add up the miles from all the food on the chart.
  • http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/maps -- world map
  • www.randmcnally.com – maps and mileage within US and Canada
  • www.mapcrow.info – mileage between international cities
  • http://www.fuelcostcalculator.com/ -- fuel costs and calculations for travel within the US
  • http://www.dieselboss.com/fuel.htm -- diesel fuel cost per gallon calculator for trucks.
  • If appropriate for the students’ ability level, calculate the approximate fuel cost for each item. Use the web sites above or local gas prices (this is more difficult for airplane, train or boat, so you may wish to limit this to US items and assume they traveled by diesel truck).
  • Students may add up the fuel cost from all the food on the chart.
  • For the item they brought in, students may draw a picture of its journey. If desired, provide copies of a map for students to trace their foods’ possible journey. Students can include the numbers of miles, fuel cost, and type(s) of transportation.
  • Ask students to imagine all the different foods they eat in a week, and how much fuel is used to transport those foods to local grocery stores. In addition to using fuel, transportation also causes polluting gases to be released into the air.
  • Ask students to think of ways to reduce the amount of money, fuel, and pollution caused by transporting food. How about buying locally grown food and planting a garden?
  • What types of foods can be grown in a garden in your region? Students may research this in books, on the internet, or by interviewing local gardeners (such as parents, students who live on farms, or a teacher). Draw pictures of these foods.

Modifications for K-1:

  • While K-1 students may not have the math skills required for this lesson, they can still learn about food’s journey and be exposed to geography at the same time.
  • Follow the same procedure, but skip the step of determining the mileage and cost. Instead, discuss and illustrate the impact transporting food has on the environment.

Extensions

  • Students may list the foods they eat for lunch and read the labels to determine where they came from. They may repeat the above activities to add the mileage and fuel cost for all foods. They may present this to their parents to raise awareness and encourage them to buy local foods whenever possible.
  • Try growing vegetable plant seedlings under a grow light in the classroom. When the seedlings are ready, send them home with students with planting instructions.

Closing

After reviewing the lesson, ask students how they might inform others about how transporting food affects the environment. What can they encourage others to do?

No Waste Lunch Day

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Pack a no waste lunch for school (for the day or week).

  • Grade Level: K-3
  • Subjects: Science, Social Studies
  • Suggested Time: about 2 hours, as two sessions

Materials

Students' lunches, chalk/whiteboard, trash bags or cans, paper or posters, crayons, movie clip from WALL-E with television and DVD or VCR-player (optional), recycling and compost bins (optional), computers with internet access for optional extension activity.

National Standards

Social Studies:

  • Scarcity.
  • Environment and society.

Science:

  • Organisms and their environments.
  • Properties of earth materials.
  • Changes in environments.
  • Science and technology in local challenges.

Ohio 2010 Standards

Social Studies:

  • Individuals have shared responsibilities toward the achievement of common goals in homes, schools and communities. (K)
  • Families interact with the physical environment differently in different times and places. (1)
  • Human activities alter the physical environment, both positively and negatively. (2)
  • Evidence of human modification of the environment can be observed in the local community. (3)
  • Individuals make the community a better place by solving problems in a way that promotes the common good. (3)

 
Science:

  • Objects and materials can be sorted and described by their properties. (K)
  • Properties of objects and materials change. (1)
  • Living things cause changes on Earth. (2)
  • Some of Earth’s resources are limited. (3)

Objectives

The student will be able to:

  • Explain what happens to trash after it is thrown out.
  • Identify waste and no waste lunch items.
  • Pack a no waste lunch.

Introduction

  • At lunch, meet the students in the lunchroom or have them eat lunch in the classroom. Ask them to keep all their trash on their desk or table after eating.
  • Point out how much waste was produced by one class in one day at lunch.
  • Reading the following passage to the students: Every day you throw away something. So do your friends, neighbors, and almost every person on earth. Right now the world population is 6.5 billion people, and the U.S. population is 300 million. That’s so many people throwing away lots of trash! So much trash is a big problem and raises some serious questions. Where will all the trash go? How does it affect our planet? What happens to the trash once it leaves a house? Are there solutions to this problem? This trash problem may not seem important now, but the problem will only get worse as you grow up and live in a world with more people and more trash hurting the earth. Today we will learn where trash goes and how to make less trash. We will also have a no waste lunch where everyone will pack a lunch that does not create trash.

Activities

  • With students’ lunch trash still in front of them, ask them how they could pack a similar lunch without making trash. Have students write ideas on the board.
  • Instruct students to throw away all the trash in the same bag(s) or can (except recycling) so they can see the cumulative waste of the class lunch. Ask students where trash goes after it is thrown out. (Landfill, dump, compost, or recycling.) For basic information on landfills & dumps see http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/landfill3.htm
    • You may wish to show a clip from the beginning of the movie WALL-E, which depicts the earth covered and destroyed by trash.
    • Ask students why composting and recycling are better options than sending trash to landfills.
  • Show students items or pictures of lunch or snack items. Some should be no waste while others have waste. (Individually pre-packaged or bagged in disposable items vs. packed in reusable containers.) Ask students to identify which make waste and which do not.
  • Don’t forget about napkins and utensils. Provide cloth napkins that day or encourage students to pack them. They should also bring reusable utensils.
  • Plan a no waste lunch day for later in the week. Students can make signs and pictures about the no waste day.
  • You may wish to allow for compost (organic materials like fruit peels & cores) and recyclable materials.
  • Hold the No Waste Lunch Day. Eat lunch together as a class and separate compost & recycling into appropriate containers.

Extensions

Closing

After reviewing the lesson, ask students how they can make less trash at home.

Thank you, Miss Rumphius

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Write thank you letter to Miss Rumphius in response to the book by Barbara Cooney.

  • Grade Level: K-3
  • Subjects: Science, Language Arts

Activities

After reading the book Miss Rumphius students pretend that they are the earth. They write a thank you letter to Miss Rumphius to show their appreciation to her for making the world more beautiful. In their letters, students should recall the story events and what Miss Rumphius did to help.

Miss Rumphius activity