
Photo Credit: Clipart.com
Modern Western culture places an emphasis on new, quick, and streamlined. As we know, when buying new technology, it often seems outdated minutes after you've left the store with it. But what does it mean for our world in a long-term sense when we're replacing our phones every two years and our computers every four, eating our lunches with plasticware, drinking our coffee from paper cups and our water from plastic bottles, and throwing out spoiled food we didn't have time to cook?
Use these resources to explore what our garbage says about us, find out what can be recycled, reused, converted, and composted to reduce what ends up in landfills or on garbage barges, and learn what steps you can take in order to avoid accumulating excess stuff.
Filter Resources by Grade:
Lessons
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K-2 | Hands-On
In this lesson students are introduced to the idea that some materials can be recycled.
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3-5 | Hands-On
In this lesson, students will learn about artifacts, how they are discovered, and what information can be learned from them.
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3-5 | Hands-On
In this lesson, students explore the side effects of technology by designing, implementing, and evaluating solutions related to the problem of waste disposal.
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3-5 | Hands-On
In this lesson, students identify natural resources used to produce common items and how science and technology are used in the process.
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3-5 | Hands-On
In this lesson, students learn about the problems of waste disposal and how recycling can help to reduce the amount of waste we create.
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3-5 | Hands-On
This lesson shows that products and objects have lifespans so we need to recycle, reuse, and re-imagine new purposes for them.
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6-8 | Hands-On
This lesson offers useful information and activities that help students learn about the ways that scientists learn about civilizations that have disappeared, archaeological issues, methods, evidence, and types of measurement.
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6-8
In this lesson, students develop an understanding of the impact of improved sanitation on human health.
Tools
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3-8 | Interactive
This interactive challenges students to think about the positive and negative consequences of various types of power.
Science Updates
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6-12 | Audio
Bacteria get a bad rap for causing disease, but many of these organisms are beneficial. Without them, we wouldn't be able to digest our food, and garbage would never decompose. This Science Update describes how one group of scientists has found another way to put bacteria to work.
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6-12 | Audio
In this Science Update, you can hear about how researchers make car parts out of biodegradable plastic using elephant grass as a filler.
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6-12 | Audio
Floating trash could be a significant way for unwanted organisms to travel to distant lands.
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6-12 | Audio
Scientists are getting a better handle on how much plastic we put into the oceans and what effects it’s having.
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6-12 | Audio
Sinking old warships creates new habitats for marine species.
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6-12 | Audio
In this Science Update, hear how nearly half of America's food gets wasted.
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6-12 | Audio
In this Science Update, hear how reducing food waste could translate into big energy savings.
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6-12 | Audio
In this Science Update, hear how scientists are creating new ways to separate toxic waste and dangerous chemicals from the environment.
AAAS Resources
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
A post on our Educator Blog about the August 10, 2012, Working with Waste issue of Science magazine
New Set of Resources to Help You Teach about Waste and Recycling
A follow-up post on our Educator Blog with additional resources focused on waste.
What to Do With Waste
A special, free bibliography from SB&F of recommended books and videos to help discuss the issues and challenges we face when dealing with waste disposal.
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