Lesson Planning Form for Differentiating Instruction Education 305

Teacher

Lauren Newhuis & Annaliese Vander Baan

2nd Grade

Grade level and theme

Thread/crossover

Geography

I. Objectives
What is the main focus of this lesson?
What is recycling and how does it work?
How does this lesson tie in to your Big Idea
This lesson is a continuation of the previous. Because we discussed the negative affect that landfills have on the community, for this
lesson we want to see how we can bring positive change (by recycling!). In order to empower students, we feel that they deserve to
know what is happening to the materials they are recycling. This helps with further lessons: a debate on if it is worth it to recycle
and informing others about why its important to recycle.
What are your objectives for this lesson? (students will be able to.) Indicate connections to applicable national or state
standards (glces). Indicate themes from any threads addressed in this lesson (ex-Geography-human environment interaction)
1) 2 G4.0.1 Students will be able to describe how recycling factories are being used
2) 2 G4.0.2 Students will be able to dig deeper into recycling and begin discussing how it can be positive for the local community
3) 2 G5.0.1 Students will be able to give back to their local community by being informed about how to recycle, knowing what to
recycle, and explaining how recycling works
II. Before you start
Prerequisite knowledge and skills.
What are you assuming they know
or have already done.
Assessment
(formative and summative)
Key vocabulary for this lesson
(include key concepts from
individual threads ex- economicsopportunity cost etc)

Materials-what materials (books,

handouts, etc) do you need for this
lesson and do you have them?

Opportunities for differentiation

III. The Plan

Time
Parts
Motivation
(Opening/
Introduction/
Engagement)

Students should recall previous lesson of landfills.

Pre-assessment: Having students separate different recyclable materials

Reusing
Recycle
LOTS of recyclable) materials (glass, plastic, metal, and paper) & some garbage materials
5 signs with the material names
Aluminum foil
For recycling paper:
- Paper scraps
- Water
- Screens or embroidery hoops
- Large tub
There are many different means by which information is being presented
For summative assessment, the teacher could lower the number of items in the bag. (s)he could
also remove all garbage items and just have a student separate only recyclable materials.
Lastly, the teacher can have the student only separate between recyclable and non.

The description of (script for) the lesson, wherein you describe teacher activities and student
activities
Activate prior knowledge: Have you ever seen this symbol on anything?
This symbol is used for recycling!
Recycling really just means reusing. (Teacher writes re-using on the board)
Turn and talk to your partner about what it means when we are using something

Teacher should take a few descriptions of what this means (we are doing something with it, it is not just
sitting there, etc.)
Now, what does it do to the word when we add re? Allow students to make guesses
It means using it again!
When people recycle, they are reusing the materials we send in and making new things out of them!
Development

The teacher should bring in a bunch of different recyclable materials.

The teacher should put all of the materials on the ground (glass, plastic, metal, and paper) and prompt
students to try and separate the materials into categories
Ask students why they separated the materials in this way.
(Mistakes on separation should be addressed while going through the different materials)
Place 4 signs next to the 5 categories: GLASS, PLASTIC, METAL, PAPER, GARBAGE
* PowerPoint has pictures to show during discussion of each material
As you discuss how each of the materials are recycled, you and the students should be sitting around that
group of materials. Have a brief synopsis (either with pictures or words, depending on your students
needs) of how each material is recycled
Metal:
Discuss the sorts of materials that are in the metal pile (tuna cans, soda cans, soup cans, etc.
To recycle metal objects
- Materials are first washed
- Then they are crushed (teacher should step on and crush a soda can)
- They then melt the cans in a big furnace until its a big liquid
- Then they put the liquid in machines that makes it solid again and rolls it into sheets (let students
feel aluminum foil)
- Then they send the sheets of aluminum to companies that make it into things like food cans or
soda cans!
Glass:
Discuss the sorts of materials that are in the glass pile (bottles, etc.)
To recycle glass objects
- Glass is cleaned off and caps & wrappers are taken off
- Glass is then separated into different colors
- Then they crush it into small pieces
- The glass is then heated up and poured into molds
Plastic:
Discuss the sorts of materials that are in the plastic pile (water bottles, plastic containers or lids, etc.)
To recycle plastic objects
- Plastic is cleaned off
- Plastic is separated by colors
- It is then shredded
- Then it is melted and formed into little pellets
- They then use the pellets and its formed into something new like more bottles or plastic bags!
Paper:
Discuss the sorts of materials that are in the paper pile
To recycle paper objects
- Take the paper and grind it into tiny pieces
- Then they mix the paper with water and chemicals to make it into a gooey mixture/pulp
- Then they put it over a screen and get out all the pits of plastic and glue
- Then they wash the mixture to get off all the ink
- After that they beat the pulp down and bleach it to make it white
- Then they dry out the pulp mixture and put it through paper-making machines
Garbage:

These go to a landfill/dump!
Recycle your own paper with the students using these directions:
http://childcentralstation.com/2010/07/recycled-paper.html
*If you dont have time or resources to recycle your own paper, dont let the opportunity pass by! Let
students at least experiment with making the pulp gooey mixture!

Potential questions:
- Do I need to remove the label? No, because they can easily be removed in the
recycling process
- Do I have to remove lids or caps on bottles? Yes, removal of the cap ensures
the bottle is free from liquids and allows the bottle to be crushed and
prevents injury from exploding caps.
- Why did you flatten the cardboard? Because it saves space in the recycling bin.
Do you have to rinse out cans and bottles? No but it is recommended that
you do for sanitary reasons.
- Why do we separate? Because it makes it safer for the workers. That way they
dont have to reach in for something paper and accidentally cut their hand on
glass.
The students were able to work together and separate the materials for the previous activity. For an
assessment, I want to see if they are able to do this on their own. This way in real situations they will be
able to pick out the materials they need to recycle.
Closure

Put different materials (some recyclable and some not) into separate bags for each of the students. First
have each student separate the materials into which can be recycled and which cannot. Then each student
should separate within the recyclables into the different categories.
Let the students try and recall how the different materials are processed.