Forums

[color=#231f20][size=2][font=Times New Roman]           [/font][/size][/color][color=#231f20][size=2][font=Times New Roman] Another[/font][/size][/color][size=2][font=Times New Roman] aspiring teacher and I co-taught a lesson on recycling paper.  We began the lesson with a do now on the board. It consisted of recycling pictures. We asked them: “[color=black]Have you seen this sign around, what do you think it means? What does it represent? “ After allowing the students to speculate we showed a recycling video and then did a recycle paper experiment. We began by dividing the students into groups of 2. We handed out each group newspaper, a container, cornstarch and paper towels. Then asked to start ripping up the newspaper in small pieces. [/color][color=#231f20]We asked them to place the newspaper scraps into bowl, cover them with hot water, and mix it up until all of the paper is wet. We had to let the paper sit for a few hours, until it became all mushy and was stirred occasionally. The next procedure was to add a few tablespoons of cornstarch and a little more hot water. We mixed it all up once more. It should be like Pulp but excess water was extracted with a strainer. We had the students take a piece of aluminum foil and fold it into a square or rectangle about the size of the paper the class wanted to make. The next step was to punch holes in the aluminum foil with a sharp pencil.[/color][color=#231f20] They took a new sheet of aluminum foil and were directed to spoon some pulp on top. They pinched together any holes in the paper. Finally, they put aluminum foil and books on top of the paper and pressed it flat. The books were taken off as well as the top layer of foil. It was left out overnight so that it can dry. The following day they [/color][/font][color=#231f20][font=Times New Roman]peeled the paper from the aluminum foil. We asked the students to make observations and conclusions based on the experiment and introduced the terminologies: reduce, reuse and recycle and explained its importance. To expand we asked the students to choose an item from the room that could be recycled and write about it in their journals. At the end of the lesson students were given an exit slip in which they had to write down the definitions of reduce, reuse and recycle. Students were evaluated based on their responses throughout the lesson and journal writing.[/font][/color][/size] [color=#231f20][font=Times New Roman][size=2]            This lesson is engaging and fun and allowed students to make their own inferences. There are many ways one can recycle paper and we chose to recycle paper this way because it is a cost effective and easy way for students to do this at home. They can even share their experience by showing their family members how to recycle paper. [/size][/font][/color]

What a great way to have your students take some personal interest in recycling. I am all for allowing students to make their own opinion about something, because I think this allows them to see how they can be part of a greater good. My place of work has recycling, but often I wonder if the materials are actually being recycled. Even though classrooms have recycle cans, I've noticed more often than not that there is trash in there. So when students actually recognize the concern, I believe they will be more likely to give special attention to recycle.

This is not only a great activity, but an awesome, concise explanation of what was done and how. Im sure the students will remember the lab for years to come.... I would love to try it out one day