Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Tune In: What is waste?

15 minutes

Find Out: What creates waste?

25 minutes

Take Action: Why do we need to be safe around waste?

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions & success criteria

Students will:

explore how to work with waste safely
draw on prior knowledge and personal experiences.

Students can:

use nouns and verbs in the correct context
write a class safety code for handling waste.

Tune In: What is waste?

Step 1

Begin by sharing the following images with students, available as a visual explainer.

Invite students to suggest what all these things have in common. Through your discussion, lead students to the idea that these are all examples of waste.

Activating and using prior knowledge to make connections is an essential literacy skill that helps students link new information to what they already know. This process enhances understanding by creating meaningful associations between the topic and personal experiences or previously learned material. Students improve comprehension, retention, and engagement with the content by making these connections.

Step 2

Students will now participate in a Quickwrite activity around the question:

What is waste?

Explain that students will work independently to respond to the question. They will have a set amount of time (e.g. 2-3 minutes) to record their thoughts, ideas and feelings about this question.

Once complete, students can share their ideas with a classmate and make any adjustments to their initial ideas following their discussion.

Step 3

Now, invite the students to work as a class to develop their class definition of waste, recording student ideas on the board.

You could consider the following prompts to guide the creation of your definition:

Where does waste come from?
What do we usually do with waste?
Do we need waste?
Is waste useful to us?

You could compare your class definition with those from a dictionary or online resource such as the Student Dictionary for Kids.

Tip: If you are sharing an online dictionary with students, you could take a moment to scroll through the examples provided, pointing out the ways that ‘waste’ can be used as a noun, verb or adjective.

Record the final version of your shared definition of waste on the board.

Find Out: What creates waste?

Step 1

Refer students back to waste images which are available as a Visual Explainer.

Invite students to work in pairs to think about the activities that might have created each of these types of waste and record these as a list, for example:

Empty drink can - drinking
Food leftovers - eating
Deflated ball - playing sport
Empty jam jar - preparing and eating food
Scrunched-up paper - writing or drawing
Toys and toy packaging - buying something new.

Step 2

Students will now work as a class to participate in a brainstorming activity around the question:

What creates waste?

Gather the class together to sit or stand in front of the board. Place the Cut-Out Discussion Cards in the middle of the group.

Explain to students they’ve already explored some ways we create waste by thinking about where the waste in the images comes from. They will now dig deeper into how waste is created by using the discussion cards to spark new ideas and further the discussion. You can model the task by selecting and responding to the first card. Students can then select cards to work from, putting their cards back once they’ve had a chance to speak.

If students need further prompting, you could propose some of the following:

How do we create waste at home?
How do we create waste at school?
How might I create waste with my hobbies or activities?
What have I noticed about what people might do to reduce the waste they create?

Consider recording the main ideas and themes on the board. Invite students to reflect on the main sources of waste in their lives, but reiterate that this is not something to feel bad about. We all make waste, and there are things we can do to reduce it. Students will look at some of these actions later in this unit. For now, it’s more important to get used to the idea of waste and to start thinking about what waste is and why we create it.

Take Action: Why do we need to be safe around waste?

Step 1

Again, refer students to the waste images:

Pose the question:

How can we be safe with waste?

Students can work in pairs to think about the risks of each type of waste (e.g. sharp or dirty) and what actions they could take to avoid them.

Students can create a list. For example:

Empty drink can - could be sharp, dirty and rusty (we need to be careful handling rusty items because of tetanus). Make sure to avoid the sharp bits and either wear gloves when handling or wash your hands thoroughly after handling.
Food leftovers - could be dirty. Either wear gloves when handling, use tongs or wash your hands thoroughly after handling.
Deflated ball - could be dirty. Either wear gloves when handling or wash your hands thoroughly after handling.

Empty jam jar - could be broken and sharp. Alert a teacher anytime you see broken glass - don’t try and collect it yourself.
Scrunched-up paper - could be dirty. Either wear gloves when handling or wash your hands thoroughly after handling.
Toys and toy packaging - could be dirty. Either wear gloves when handling or wash your hands thoroughly after handling.

Step 2

Display the Sample Waste Safety Code for students and outline that they will work together as a class to develop a waste safety code for their classroom. Invite students to collaborate to develop a class safety code for handling waste safely, and assist them by modelling and writing the safety codes on the board with student input.

You could use the following points to guide what details could be covered in your class safety code.

How can we be safe with litter when working inside?
How can we be safe with litter when working outside?
How can we be safe with litter when picking up litter in the yard?
How can we be safe with litter when sorting litter?

Students should refer to the ideas they generated in their pairs in the previous task, but they could also try to use the following list of nouns and verbs (add or delete according to your cohort):

Nouns	Verbs
Food Packaging Plastic Glass Metal Paper Cardboard Gloves Bin Student Teacher Waste Help	See Collect Wash Wear Pick up Take Find Tell Ask Think Feel Put Dispose

Step 3

Once complete, a class set and a master copy of the waste safety code for students. The safety code is to be displayed in the classroom and can be printed and given to each student to glue into their workbooks.

Learning support: Invite students to draw visuals to match the nouns and verbs on the waste safety code to build connections within their vocabulary.

Reflection

Invite students to reflect on their learning by responding to the following:

One thing I already knew about waste before this lesson
One thing I learned about waste in this lesson
One question I now have about waste.

Being Safe Around Waste

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Being Safe Around Waste

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