Let’s Stop Litter!
by Kim Cummins, kcummins@acadia.k12.la.us

Content Area(s)
Science

Grade Level(s)
2, 

Overview
Students participating in this lesson will learn about litter and determine why this is a problem in their community. They will engage in multi-sensory, techonology-based experiences that will help them to not only understand the problem of littering, but will also afford them the opportunity to persuade others to help in the fight against littering.

Software
Discussion
Sketchy
Inspiration

Technology
Posterboard

Objectives
TLW define littering, and write why it is a problem in their community.
TLW identify types of litter in the school and the surrounding area.
TLW create categories of trash and sort the identified pieces of litter found.
TLW take pictures of trash throughout the school area with a digital camera.
TLW create advertisements urging students not to litter.

Procedures
1. The teacher will engage students in a discussion about the words trash, litter and garbage.
2. Students will then enter “Discussion” on their palms, and they will provide a rationale for their opinion about the following statement: “Littering is bad and people should stop doing it.”
3. Students will then walk in pairs around the school and the surrounding area for 30 minutes. One student will take pictures of litter they have found with the digital camera. Another will record the names of the items they see in the Memo section of their palm.
4. Following the school tour, students will beam their lists to the teacher’s palm, creating a master list.
5. The teacher will eliminate repeated names, then will beam the list back to the students.
6. The students will engage in a class discussion in which they will identify four-five categories within which the names of the litter fall (example: paper, food, metal, etc.).
7. Students will then work in assigned groups to create semantic webs in Inspiration identifying the types of litter that fall within each category. Each group will be assigned a different category, so by the end, all of the litter that was seen has been sorted into different webs.
8. Students will work in these same groups to create posters featuring the pictures they took around the campus with the heading, “Let’s Stop Litter!”
9. Students will work in pairs using Sketchy to create cartoon advertisements urging students not to litter around school or in their neighborhoods.
10. Both the posters and the Sketchy ads can be displayed in the hallways of the school, urging students to stop littering.

Other Supporting Material

Submitted on: 7/9/2005 1:47:07 PM