Unit Summary
Experts of the Waste Management Department (the students) who in collaboration with the State Waste Management Corporation (SWMC) will investigate the issue of how people manage solid waste and devise strategies to implement the creation of a healthy, waste-free zone. The Waste Management experts will conduct a study on solid waste disposal, which causes environmental pollution and other disastrous impact on nature and human lives. They will also analyse its effects on nature and launch a clean-up drive by making an action plan and present their study in a multimedia presentation to SWMC.
Curriculum-Framing Questions
- Essential Question
How can we make a difference?
- Unit Questions
What can we do to manage waste effectively?
- Content Questions
What is waste disposal and what is the need for it?
What are the four R’s of waste management?
What are landfills?
What are the ways of disposal of solid waste?
Assessment Processes
View how a variety of student-centered assessments are used in the Unit Plan. These assessments help students and teachers set goals; monitor student progress; provide feedback; assess thinking, processes, performances, and products; and reflect on learning throughout the learning cycle.
Instructional Procedures
Getting to Know the Unit
Before introducing the unit, prepare
- Presentation describing the state of waste disposal in your city. To create project based learning scenario, the presentation will appear to have been sent by chairperson of the state waste management centre.
- Weekly logbook (DOC 34KB) handout for the students to reflect on their learning and to plan effectively.
- Poster of essential question for introduction of the unit.
- Weekly Timeline for students to adhere.
- Multimedia and Newsletter Evaluation rubric to share with the students.
- Template for Students’ Presentation.
- Share KWL chart (DOC 27KB) and collaboration rubric (DOC 28.5KB) with students.
Week One (4 periods of 40 minutes each)
Introduce the project, by holding a discussion on waste disposal methods. Make the students describe the waste disposal process and bring out the importance of waste management for healthy living.
Create a poster on the essential question, How can we make a difference? and put it up in the classroom. Randomly divide the students in small groups and ask them to discuss the question amongst themselves and note down their response in their journals. Ask each group to select their presenter and share five best responses to the question. Sum up the outcomes of the discussion and share the different perspectives such as the difference they can make in their lives, family, school, community, etc.
Describe the following situation:
Your teams have been asked to work with the State Waste Management Centre (SWMC) as Waste Management Experts, to study the ways people dispose waste in your community and develop strategies for managing waste effectively and launch a clean-up drive in your community.
State Waste Management Centre has sent a presentation (PPT 542KB) to make you aware about grim scenario of waste management in city, the risk and problems associated with solid waste they are facing to manage waste.
Show the presentation and hold a discussion on waste disposal methods and stages of waste disposal methods. Discuss the time lines and make the students earmark different milestones of the projects on the implementation handout (PDF 29.1KB). Discuss the format of weekly logbook (DOC 34KB) and ask the students to make entry as they work on the different aspects of the project. Share assessment rubric for final presentation and newsletter with students.
As homework, ask the students to plan how they will work in their own community and neighborhood and record in their weekly logbook.
Week Two (4 periods of 40 minutes each)
Arrange for an expert from the SWMC to address the students and hold discussion on effective ways of waste disposal. Hold a question answer session for students to clarify their doubts. Make the student research using Internet to identify the ways of managing waste in the different countries. Introduce the activity of conducting survey to collect first hand information about the components of waste, methods of waste disposal in the community. Share the survey handout (DOC 25.5KB) of how to conduct a survey to the groups. In their respective groups, make the students discuss and list the questions for conducting survey in their community. Make the groups share their questions with the entire class and identify key questions that would be used during the survey trip. Discuss the different modes to conduct a survey – Internet, interviews, phone, mail, and so forth. Also, role-play how to pose questions and conduct interviews. Discuss the guidelines about the field trip. In groups, make students brainstorm on the different criteria for observations during their field trip. Make the students share their criteria and come up with a set of common criteria for recording their observations.
Week Three (Field Trip + 4 periods of 40 minutes each)
In their respective groups, students visit their community areas to collect the evidence that they need to begin addressing the unit and content questions:
- What is waste disposal and what is the need for it?
- What are the ways of disposal of solid waste?
- What can we do to manage waste effectively?
The students photograph the site of garbage dumps to be used in their presentations, record their observations on the basis of the set criteria and collect the contact details of the residents whom they plan to include in the survey. Provide time to the students to conduct the survey and analyse their findings. Make the students sit in their respective groups and discuss their findings and make an entry in their logbook.
Week Four (3 periods of 40 minutes each)
Share the presentation template (DOC 26KB) with the students and ask for their ideas and suggestions. Tell them to make the necessary alterations in the storyboard accordingly. Explain that presentations must answer the questions: How can we make a difference? Share the multimedia assessment tool and discuss the assessment criteria. Check to ensure that the students have understood the assigned tasks. Provide time to complete the presentation on Strategies for Effective Waste Management and facilitate the students by providing extra time for doing research. Once the students complete their presentations, encourage students to practice for showcasing in their respective groups during the class breaks.
Week Five (Awareness Rally + 6 periods of 40 minutes each)
Arrange for a showcasing of the project and make students present their project to SWMC officials. Let the title of the showcasing event be Can we make a difference?. The students address the essential question by showcasing their presentations (PPT 190KB) and displaying their work on the display boards using the same title. Following the presentations and interactions with the SWMC officials, introduce the assignment of creating a newsletter to create awareness in the school neighbourhood about effective waste management. Discuss the newsletter rubric with the students and let them research on the different ways of making a compost pit. In groups get them to create a newsletter (PDF 348KB), which includes the action plan for making a compost pit in the City Park. Arrange for an awareness rally to be conducted in the school neighbourhood. Through this awareness rally, get the students to share their action plan with the community around the school.
Prerequisite Skills
The students should have prior knowledge of the following:
- Basic computer and Internet research skills.
- Basic computer skills, such as keyboarding and word processing.
- Experience with word processing, spreadsheet, and multimedia programs.
- Conducting research using print and electronic resources.
- Generation of waste and its sources, types of wastes, waste, community health and sanitation.
- Problems due to lack of proper waste management.
Differentiated Instruction
Resource Student
- Use a daily outline of tasks to aid organization and work completion.
- Reduced assignments targeting only the most important concepts.
- Break assignments into small, manageable activities and write the activities on a checklist.
- Select specific Web sites according to their readability level and mark them so the student has more meaningful sites to use while researching.
- Partner the student with another student who is more proficient.
- Improving communicative skills by interviewing others.
Gifted Student
- The student could investigate more complex questions concerning waste management plans and the science behind them.
- The student could design experiments on landfills, demonstrate how different materials can be recycled, and/or build/investigate a new invention that would address certain aspects of the waste management problem.
- Publish a newsletter to educate people.
- Create awareness in people to manage waste effectively.
Credits
Ms. Preetha Nair, teacher of Navrachana High School, and Ms. Upsana Sharma, teacher of Baroda High School of Baroda, participated in the Intel® Teach Program and implemented it in their respective schools. A team of teachers expanded the plan into an example that you see here.