Day+4+(Thursday)

**OBJECTIVES:** Students will: · Become aware of the amounts and kinds of trash they personally generate each day. · Infer how both the types and amounts of trash can vary depending on situations. · Students will practice logging information through Excel. 1. As a class, brainstorm a list of possible items that a student could throw into the trash on a typical day, not only at home, but also at school. In generating this list, students should be reminded to think of different categories of trash: paper, plastic, yard trimmings, metals, rubber/leather, textiles, wood, food, aluminum, glass, and “other.” A class recorder should compile the list in a **Word document**, on paper or the board. 2. Duplicate this class list. This will be the //Trash Inventory Checklist//. Require each student to //monitor his or her discard for one day.//  **Using MS Excel**, students can create a spreadsheet list, log and check off the items they throw away, noting the number of each. Students should also note any //discarded items that are not on the list//. 3. The day after students complete their inventories, ask them to analyze the results and think about how the data reflects their personal habits and lifestyles. Have each student write an essay in their **online journals** that answers this question: “It is 100 years from now and your home is the site of an archeological dig. What would the archeologist conclude if all your daily discards were found in a pile?” A possible prompt for student is, “If archaeologists found my trash, they would conclude…about me… because…” 4. ** In the classroom blog **, ask students to share responses to the question: If you were asked to reduce the amount of waste you produced, what would you do and how would it make a difference? 5. Have students look at their inventory sheets and answer these questions: How many bags of trash do you think you produce in a day? In a year? How big an area would those bags fill? How many bags would everyone in your class produce in a year? Use **the smart board functions** to demonstrate exponential increase, allowing visualization of growth. **a.** Would your trash inventory be the same every day of the year? Explain. **b**. How would holidays or birthdays affect your trash? **c.** Would an archaeologist know what season of the year your trash was from? How? **d.** Would most of your neighbors’ garbage be similar? **e.** Explain how each of the following factors could affect the amount and kinds of household trash: **f.** How does reliance on convenience products seem to affect waste? You can evaluate your students using the following three point rubric: ** - One Point- ** Trash Inventory Checklist incomplete. Reflections and questions lack necessary content.
 * TITLE: What’s In the Trash? **
 * PROCEDURE:  **
 * DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: **
 * A baby or very young children
 * A house with a small yard on a city lot
 * A house with a large lawn in the suburbs
 * A rural farm with animals and fields
 * A house/apartment with very little storage space
 * A family of one parent and one child
 * A family of two parents and four children
 * A garden to supply vegetables and fruits
 * A region that is warm all year
 * Not having a microwave oven
 * Having a very large income
 * A family with two working parents
 * EVALUATION: **
 * - Three Points- ** Trash Inventory Checklist well-structured and completed with substantial recordings. Significantly well-thought reflections and fully answered questions are evident in the journals and blog. Good classroom discussion.
 * - Two Point- ** Trash Inventory Checklist completed. Reflections show full comprehension and questions are answered adequately. Remained involved in classroom discussion.