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Five Lessons Teach Students
To Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Earth Day, first celebrated in 1970, is just around the corner. This week, Education World offers five lessons to help you teach students about trash and the importance of recycling. Included: A Mother's Day gift idea, recycle games, composting, scrap paper projects, more!

More Earth Day Lesson Plans Still looking for Earth Day lesson ideas? You will find dozens of great ideas in Education World's Earth Day archive. Plus…Earth Day Projects Find some great Earth Day collaborative projects in these articles from our archives: * Science and Math e-Projects Connect Students Worldwide Square of Life, Human Genetics, Take a Dip, Measuring Earth's Circumference, plus six more projects! * Internet Projects to Celebrate Earth Day! The Earth Day Groceries Project, Down the Drain, more! * Mrs. Burton Means Business Recycling Kids, Inc.-- a business run by third graders -- teaches business skills while involving parents and helping the environment. And... More Lessons Finally, don't miss a bonus page of more Earth Day lessons found on the Net.

For today's students, recycling is a way of life. But that doesn't mean students understand why we recycle. More than ever, that's important for students to know! A great place to go to start the learning process is Recycle City, a Web site from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). By clicking different sections of the site's clickable map, students learn how Dumptown was transformed into Recycle City.

After their visit to Recycle City, why not have students Build a Trash City from recycled materials? Each class -- or small groups of students within a class -- will be responsible for building a city block.

Those are just a couple lessons among dozens you will find in this special Lesson Planning article.

FIVE NEW LESSONS FOR TEACHING ABOUT TRASH AND RECYCLING

This week, Education World provides five new lessons about trash and recycling. Click each of the five lesson headlines below for a complete teaching resource. (Appropriate grade levels for each lesson appear in parentheses.)

Catalog Necklace
Why not recycle those old magazines and catalogs (or wrapping paper and junk mail)? Transform them into a colorful necklace -- just in time for Mother's Day! (Grades K-12)

The Recycle Games
You've heard of the Olympic Games. How about the Recycle Games? The Recycle Games provide great exercise as they teach about the importance of recycling. (Grades PreK-12)

Composting With Worms
A classroom composting experiment demonstrates why worms are known as "nature's recyclers." (Grades PreK-12)

How Long Does Trash Last?
Learn how long trash lasts in landfills in this small-group cooperative activity. (Grades 3-8)

Copy-Paper Scrap Projects
Two practical classroom activities for reusing scrap copy paper. (Grades PreK-12)

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

We have collected a few dozen more lesson plans focused on trash and recycling. Click here to view that library of lessons. Find many additional Earth Day lesson ideas in our special Earth Day archive.

Article by Gary Hopkins
Education World®
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