Canada recycles! Do you? Teacher’s notes

Downloadable versions of these notes are available in the following formats:
(RTF, PDF)

Objectives

Gr. 4 – 6 Students will learn:

• to read bar graphs for information
• to graph data on a bar graph
• to make conclusions about environmental practices from data

Gr. 7 – 8 Students will learn:

• to read tables for information
• to calculate and use percentages to compare data
• to graph data using a double bar graph
• to make conclusions about environmental practices from data

Materials

Elementary worksheet (Gr. 4-6)
Intermediate worksheet (Gr. 7-8)  

Time required

Allow at least 30 minutes for students to complete the worksheet, with additional time for the introduction and the follow-up discussion.

Introduction

Lead into the activity by posing the following questions:

1. What types of materials do you recycle at home?
2. What types of materials do you recycle at school?
3. Is it easy to recycle or difficult?  Do you have a place to put the paper/glass/plastic/metal cans that is easy to access at home/at school?
4. Why is recycling important?

Note that the data for Canada in the activity comes from a Statistics Canada survey called the Households and the Environment Survey(HES).  It was conducted in 1994 and 2006 and will be conducted every 2 years in the future to assess the practices of Canadians in caring for the environment. 

Follow-up

Discussion

1. How did your class compare to the Canadian results in the various environmental practices?
2. In what area(s) do you think Canada needs to improve most?  How could this be done? (See extension activity #3 below.)
3. In what area(s) do you think your own households and/or class need to improve most?  How could this be done? (See extension activity # 1 below.)
4. Do you think the adults and the students at your house are equally involved in recycling, conserving energy and water and reducing pollution?  What would need to change so that everyone is involved?

Extension activities

These could be used as part of an interdisciplinary unit on the environment.

1. How can your class be part of the solution?  Prepare a plan of action for two   areas in which your class could improve in helping the environment. What steps can your class commit to taking? 
2. Encourage your school to help the environment:
   • Create posters for your school bulletin boards.
   • Act out a skit about helping the environment at a school assembly.
   • Devise a contest or school program to promote litterless lunches.
   • Lead a school-wide walk through the community to clean-up litter (challenge other schools to do the same)
   • Other ideas…?
3. Encourage Canadians to help the environment:
   • Write an article for a newspaper or magazine.
   • Record an advertisement or for a radio or television station in your community