Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

5 minutes

Tune In: Let’s take it apart

20 minutes

Find Out: Investigating the impacts

20 minutes

Take Action: How do we reduce the impact?

5 minutes

Reflection

Tune In: Let’s take it apart

Step 1.

Ask students if they can name some of the components of an electrical device. Create a list from student answers.

Some answers may include battery, screen, case, circuit board, wiring, motor, buttons, sensors, cameras etc.

Watch the following video with students, which details what raw materials are used in specific components of making a smartphone:

MobileMuster - What's Inside Your Phone (youtu.be/hY-lAMe2_dc?feature=shared)

As students watch the video, have them fill out Question 1 on the student worksheet, identifying what the different components are made from. Suggested answers can be found below.

If you are interested in further exploring the components and materials contained in e-products, you may like to check out the following interviews created especially for this unit with organisations with expert insight into electronic products, e-waste, and the social and environmental impacts of this issue. More information about these organisations can be found in the teacher content information.
• Comsol
• Fairphone
• Planet Price
• Project Re-Play

Find Out: Investigating the impacts

Step 1.

The last activity identified 11 materials used in electronic devices: gold, silver, platinum, copper, tin, lithium, neodymium, tungsten, crude oil, bauxite and silica.

HOT TIP: Some of these materials have more of an impact than others! Lithium and crude oil are some of the most contentious materials on this list.

In groups of 3 or 4, students will choose one of these components and explore how it is sourced through online research. They will need to identify:

What types of electronic devices use this material
Which components in an electronic device use this material
Where the crude material is obtained
How the crude material is obtained
The environmental, social and economic impacts of this requisition process
The level of recyclability of this material
What the recycling process look like

Students can use the Student Worksheet to record their information. They can use this presentation shell to compile their information from the Student Worksheet or directly as they research their material. Make sure to download the presentation as a .pptx file so students can edit it in Google Slides, PowerPoint or Apple Keynote.

This is a good opportunity to delve more deeply into the social impacts of the life cycle of electronic products if you have the time available with your class. This interview, created especially for this unit with the organisation Walk Free, goes into detail about the issue of modern slavery and how Walk Free are attempting to raise awareness and create change to combat modern slavery at all stages of the electronic supply chain. You can find out more about Walk Free and the work they do here.

Step 2.

Before students start researching, we need to make sure they can identify the bias of their sources.

Ask students to consider the two following videos about gold mining. You don’t need to play these videos, as the information in the table below should be adequate to start a discussion. This table is also included on the student worksheet.

Video 1	Video 2
How Can Gold Mining Contribute to Better Lives? - The World Gold Council (youtu.be/G5SGx2_j8vs)	Gold: The dark truth behind your jewellery - DW Planet A (youtu.be/xB-a2I0JmBA?feature=shared)
What is the World Gold Council?“ The World Gold Council (or the WGC) is a nonprofit association of the world's leading gold producers. A market development organisation for the gold industry, the World Gold Council includes 33 members, and many members are gold mining companies. The WGC was established to promote the use of and demand for gold through marketing, research, and lobbying.” Source: Investopedia	What is Deutsche Welle (DW)? Deutsche Welle, commonly shortened to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. The work of DW is regulated by the Deutsche Welle Act, meaning that content is intended to be independent of government influence. Source: Wikipedia

Discuss the two videos as a class, focusing on the following prompts:

If you are researching gold as the raw material in an electronic product, which of the two videos is more reliable to give you the information you need? Why?
What bias would be present in the information given in Video 1?
Why would Video 2 be less biased?
What should you check when you’re researching?

Remind students that they must examine their information sources for reliability when doing their research.

Step 3.

Divide students into their groups and allocate a material that is used in electronic devices to each group. Ensure each group has access to the presentation template and/or the Student Worksheet. Make sure the groups divide the research tasks fairly and that members of each group understand their roles.

Learning Support: If students are short on time, or if you have students who need some help getting started, you can share the links provided in the teacher content sheet. Students who have difficulty with writing could use images or video clips in their presentations to talk to and explain the process.

Extension: Students who need extension could perform this task individually or in pairs. They could also be asked to justify why their sources should be considered trusted sources of information.

Step 4.

Have students share their research with the class. This could be done in a future lesson as a presentation format, or you could set up a gallery walk style activity where students can review each other’s presentations and conduct a See, Think, Wonder Visible Thinking routine on each other’s projects.

Take Action: How do we reduce the impact?

Step 1.

In the last lesson, students were introduced to the circular economy. If your students need a refresher, show them the linear and circular economy models on the attached visual explainer for this lesson.

Ask students the following questions and discuss

If we want to lessen the environmental impacts of raw material extraction, which economy model would be preferable?
If manufacturing companies use raw materials that need to be extracted and mined to create their products, what type of economy model are we using? Why?

Step 2.

Watch the following video of an interview with the CEO of European Electronics Recyclers Association (EERA) with your students, created specifically for this unit.

EERA (https://vimeo.com/865427587?share=copy)

Discuss the following with students. Suggested answers are provided to help guide your discussion.

How does EERA use the circular economy model?

EERA is a non-profit organisation that represents and promotes the interest of recycling companies treating waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). They aim for:

a level playing field for fair competition of all actors in the WEEE chain by making the standards (EN 50625 series) mandatory in the member states
effective and efficient processing of WEEE to:
- achieve a high level and quality of material recovery
- assure protection of human health and safety
- prevent pollution
- minimise emissions.

What are some difficulties with recycling and reusing materials and products?

Products are more advanced and multifaceted. For example, does a fridge with a TV screen go to a fridge recycling centre or a television recycling centre?
Reusing products with safety concerns, such as e-scooters. How can we know the product is still safe to reuse and refurbish?

How would using secondary raw materials reduce the environmental impact of electronic devices?

The more secondary raw materials we can recycle and reuse to create new products means fewer materials must be mined and extracted from the Earth. This can not only stop old devices and electronics from ending up in landfill, where they cause environmental damage but also stop the environmental impacts at their source.

How can we make a difference in this part of the lifecycle of an e-product?

Recycling our electronic devices using the appropriate channels.

If you are interested in exploring this further with your students or want other examples, we have more interviews for you to view with your students to see how organisations are trying to move to a circular economy and address the e-waste issue here. More information about these organisations can be found in the teacher content information.
• Close the Loop
• Closing the Loop
• Good Point Recycling
• Inrego
• Karo Sambhav
• PACE (Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy)
• Trace 4 Value
• UNITAR
• WEEE Forum

Reflection

Have students answer the following question on their student worksheet as an exit ticket activity.

Realise the political power of your money and spend it with the brands you know are treating their workers and the environment in the best possible way.
- Lily Cole, model, author, film director, actress and entrepreneur

How can you find out which producers are ethically sourcing their materials?

Electronic Product Lifecycle: Material Extraction and Production

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Electronic Product Lifecycle: Material Extraction and Production

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