Recycling+Mother+Earth

Recycling Mother Earth: A Webquest

** Introduction: **Remember the words of Chief Seattle: **Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the Earth is our Mother. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the children of the Earth. If people spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves. The Earth does not belong to humankind, humankind belongs to the Earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites one family. Humankind did not weave the web of life; we are merely one strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.** In this webquest, we will learn what we can do to help take care of Mother Earth. We will explore the concepts of recycling, reusing, and reducing our resources.

**Task:** It is the responsibility of every American to become an informed citizen in order to make wise decisions concerning the fate of our planet. Toward that end, you will pursue several avenues of information and will use this research to produce a project that will reflect your knowledge of ecological concepts. Each student will: > >
 * Read "When Greenville Turned Brown."
 * Play the Dumptown game and watch what happens as a town cleans up its act. Be sure to read the instructions and explanations before actually playing the game.
 * Read a variety of articles about the three Rs (**r**educe, **r**euse, **r**ecycle).
 * Develop a vocabulary sheet of ecology terms such as recycle, reuse, re-purpose, reduce and conservation.
 * View a video concerning the disposal of solid waste.
 * Work with a partner to research a specific topic and create a flyer and a report on your topic.

**
 * Process
 * As you read the story [|When Greenville Turned Brown], answer the questions on the worksheet.
 * Visit the site [|What's Wrong With This Picture]. Follow instructions to complete the activity.
 * Play the [|Dumptown] game. If you are sharing with a partner, each of you should navigate two of the four sections of town.
 * Visit all the different pages on this [|PlanetPals] site and learn all about recycling. (The menu is at the bottom of the page.)
 * Visit the [|Environmental Protection Agency] site and find out some solutions for handling our day-to-day garbage.
 * Find out what's in your garbage on this [|Kidsweb] site.
 * [|What can you do] to reduce household (and other) wastes?
 * Create an environmental vocabulary list of the following terms:
 * recycle
 * reuse
 * reduce
 * environment
 * ecology
 * landfill
 * waste
 * conservation


 * **View the UnitedStreaming video: //The Garbage Story: Dealing With Solid Waste Disposal.//**
 * Take the video quiz and answer the questions given to you by your teacher.
 * Complete the Vocabulary Review sheet.
 * Use the word list at the bottom of the page to complete the Concept Map.
 * Your teacher will introduce the following lessons as a follow-up to the video:
 * Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Keep track of your trash from January 12 through January 16.
 * Incinerators: An Issue of Debate. [|This link] contains an explanation and a diagram of an incinerator. Read this [|article] and consider the future of garbage disposal. Or check out [|this diagram]: it's much more detailed. Is it really possible to turn [|garbage into energy]? The folks in Charleston, S.C. are pondering whether or not to continue [|burning municipal solid waste]. The state of Florida may be on to something in this [|trashy story.]
 * Now **you** locate two articles about garbage incineration, one for it and one against it.
 * Tracking Your Trash: log onto [|this site] to create charts and graphs.
 * Composting
 * If time permits, complete the Crossword Puzzle. (not required)


 * **Read this article on [|Recycling 101].**
 * **Answer the following questions:**
 * **1. How much trash does the average American produce each day?**
 * **2. Specifically, how can we reduce the amount of trash dumped into our landfills?**
 * **3. If we follow the plan in Question 2, how much can we reduce the garbage in our landfills?**
 * **4. Outline the first three steps of recycling.**
 * **5. What are the four most commonly recycled items?**
 * **6. How can each of these four items be recycled?**
 * **7. Talk to your parents and other members of your family and decide on three things your family would be willing to do to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Some suggestions are: turning down the thermostat in winter, turning off lights when leaving the room, taking your own bags to the grocery store, growing a garden, composting kitchen scraps, giving a new purpose to old or unused items, using the backs of paper for scrap paper; you can even make your own paper!**


 * **Your teacher will provide you and your partner with a topic for research.**
 * Once you have received your topic, begin your research, using the internet.
 * Be sure to keep track of each website you use so that you can create a Works Cited page.
 * Your essay should be **typed** in 3.5 form, using the spelling and grammar check on the tool bar to prevent errors.
 * You will be given a [|rubric] for the research essay and another for the [|flyer].
 * Topics:
 * 1. What's the story on landfills?
 * 2. How can we recycle holiday decorations?
 * 3. What is the scoop on recycling paper?
 * 4. What can schools do to reduce waste?
 * 5. What's happening to all those aluminum cans?
 * 6. Recycling wastewater: is this the next big step?
 * 7. Don't waste your old clothes!
 * 8. Got a new phone for Christmas? What happened to your old one?
 * 9. What is the status on recycling today?
 * 10.What happens to all those electronic gadgets when they break down?
 * 11.Recycle those used batteries!
 * 12.Now that we've replaced all our old lightbulbs, what's happened to them?
 * 13.What are we doing about all that discarded plastic?
 * 14.Tired of your tires? Recycle them!

Once you have completed all other activities, log onto the [|Recycle City] site and enjoy games and activities! For extra credit, complete five activities and turn them in at the end of the project. They are worth **as much as** 5 points each, depending on the amount of thought and effort you put into them.



