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Description
The activities outlined in this resource aim to introduce students to the environmental and health benefits of community clean-ups. Students will learn about the various problems caused by waste and litter, as well as the advantages of cleaning up their community. Key topics will include disease, health risks, climate change, environmental sustainability, microplastics, and other issues related to waste and litter.
Students will:
- explain the rationale behind the clean-up initiative. Important concepts regarding the environmental damage and threats posed by waste and litter, along with the benefits of organizing a community clean-up, will be discussed
- choose various methods to share this information, such as creating infographics, panels, posters, brochures, presentations, or public service videos
- collaboratively engage in a project-based learning approach to plan the community clean-up. A list of potential topics will be provided to help guide their planning process
- encourage community participation in the clean-up event. They can use personal communiqués and the previously mentioned options for disseminating information to promote involvement.
For the "Action" section of the lesson, students will implement the planned community clean-up event and are encouraged to document the process by taking photos.
Lastly, students will use the Commit2Act app to record the actions they take as part of the community clean-up, as well as any additional efforts they undertake to promote environmental sustainability.
General Assessment
Strengths
- resource is organized and easy to use
- provides a list of materials needed
- provides an action element by encouraging students to plan a large-group community clean-up and encouraging community participation
- ideas for complementary lessons, additional activities and resources can be found at the end of this document
- suggestions for student adaptations
- the resource design is very effective in connecting learning to students' lives.
- the resource suggests interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary links with what students are learning or researching
- the author identifies the SDGs that align with the lesson, gives an example of a link and an idea for integrating the SDG into the lesson
Recommendation of how and where to use it
This activity presents an excellent local project that supports both science and social studies outcomes related to habitats and sustainability. The hands-on experience of a schoolyard clean-up could lay the foundation for a larger environmental initiative in which the school adopts a locally threatened habitat. Conservation organizations could assist students with the clean-up of the site, planting native vegetation, erecting nesting structures, and monitoring wildlife populations. Additionally, older students could assess the presence of invasive species and create a plan to mitigate their potential impacts on native plants and animals.
Relevant Curriculum Units
The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.
- Step 1Select a province
- Alberta
- Step 2Select a grade level
- Grade 6
- Step 3Select a subject
- Science
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Living Systems: Understandings of the living world, Earth, and space are deepened through investigating natural systems and their interactions
- Social Studies
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Citizenship: Understanding local, national, and global issues empowers individual and collective action toward an inclusive society
- Grade 7
- Step 3Select a subject
- Science
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Interactions and Ecosystems
- Grade 8
- Step 3Select a subject
- Science
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Freshwater and Saltwater Systems
- Manitoba
- New Brunswick
- Newfoundland & Labrador
- Step 2Select a grade level
- Grade 6
- Step 3Select a subject
- Social Studies
- Step 4Relevant matches
- World Issues
- Grade 7
- Step 3Select a subject
- Science
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Interaction of Ecosystems
- Northwest Territories
- Nova Scotia
- Step 2Select a grade level
- Grade 6
- Step 3Select a subject
- Social Studies
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Social Studies 6: World Issues
- Grade 7
- Step 3Select a subject
- Science
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Science 7: Environmental Action
- Nunavut
- Ontario
- Step 2Select a grade level
- Grade 6
- Step 3Select a subject
- Science & Technology
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Life Systems: Biodiversity
- Grade 7
- Step 3Select a subject
- Science & Technology
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Life Systems: Interactions in the Environment
- Grade 8
- Step 3Select a subject
- Science & Technology
- Step 4Relevant matches
- Life Systems: Cells
- Prince Edward Island
- Saskatchewan
Themes Addressed
Citizenship (2)
- Community-Building and Participation
- Sustainable Consumption
Ecosystems (1)
- Appreciating the Natural World
Waste Management (1)
- Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
