Where Does All the Waste Go?
by Alice Smith Jones
Introduction:
In the United States options to dispose of waste are steadily being reduced.There is less opportunity to dispose of waste. The so-called "opendump" is now unacceptable because it is dangerous, unhealthy and ugly.Out of ten pieces of garbage, seven pieces will be buried in landfills.Most of the landfills will be full in the next few years. Finding new landfillsites is getting more difficult because they are very expensive and dangerousto human health and siting near neighborhoods. Our young citizens must knowabout how waste problems relate to them and their future. They must learnwhat they can contribute to help the solution.
Objectives:
-Illustrate the importance of clean air, water and land.
-Introduce children to the concept of pollution and the different formspollution may take.
-Help children identify litter in the world around them.
-Allow children to compare what happens to waste in a dump and in a landfill.
-Explain the harmful effect of burning garbage.
-Demonstrate how garbage can pollute the water.
Lesson I
Vocabulary: air, water, soil
Materials:
-A balloon, construction paper for folding fans, a glass of water, a pottedplant
-Ask a volunteer to blow up the balloon. Then let the air out slowly sothat children can feel it with their hands. Explain to them that it is airthat they feel.
Time Allotment: 40-60 minute class periods
Procedure:
-Why do we need air? Have children take a deep breath to understand thatwithout clean air we could not live. Have them make a fan out of foldedpaper to see how air can be moved and felt. Discuss with them the wind,airplanes, whistles. These all illustrate air and its movements.
-Why is it important that we keep air clean?
-Why do we need water? Show them the water. The children will discuss andrelate their experiences with water. Make a list on the board of all thingsthey use water for. The land is represented by the soil. Show them the pottedplant.
-What grows in the soil?
-Does anyone have a garden?
-If we had no soil could we have any food? Discuss with children why air,water and soil are necessary for our survival.
Lesson II
Vocabulary: pollution
Time Allotment: 40-60 minute class periods
Procedure:
-Who knows what pollution is?
-How many have ever seen pollution? Where have you seen it? (land, air,water)
-How does the waste we produce pollute the land, air and water?
-Why is pollution bad for us?
Children will vote on which kind of pollution is the worst (land, air orwater). There is obviously no right answer but make sure children can supporttheir opinions with concrete examples.
With partners, children will be performing some activities that demonstratehow pollution affects the land, air and water. Tell children to fold a sheetby dividing the paper into three categories (land, water and air). Ask childrento make a list of what they would do to prevent pollution and help saveour earth. List some of their answers on the board.
Lesson III
Vocabulary: litter, litterbug
Materials: All children should wear rubber gloves, garbage bags
Time Allotment: 40-60 minute class periods
Procedure:
Organize a litter clean up at your school. The children will look for signsof pollution on a "litter hunt" around the school. They will focuson the garbage they see strewn along the school ground. Children will recordthe number of different types of litter they see. With a partner, childrenwill collect litter and sort.
-What is the most common type of litter?
-What can be done to reduce litter?
-What is a litterbug?
Sort litter into proper categories (paper, plastic, aluminum, glass, wood,tin cans, etc.). A variation would be to conduct a "litter rap"around the school grounds. With a rap beat playing on a portable tape playerin the background, the children will spot pieces of litter, then make upshort "raps" one at a time to describe them. For example, "Canon the street is not too neat, ugly litter I kick with my feet". "Isee a bottle beside that fence. Let's bring it in and earn five cents.""That paper's from a burger and fries, wish someone hid it away frommy eyes".
You might wish to record the song as children make it up a verse at a time,and add rap sounds. The children will write down their own "raps".Then compile them into a song to perform for the grade or school.
Lesson IV
Vocabulary: open dump, sanitary landfill
Materials:
Garbage collected from school grounds, 1 gallon milk or water jug, pottingsoil, a piece of plastic, a piece of aluminum foil, metal, newspaper, candyor gum wrapping, food scraps.
Time Allotment: 20-30 days
Procedure:
With partners, children will construct both a mini landfill and a mini dumpand compare the two over the course of several weeks.
To make the landfill, teacher will cut three quarters of the way aroundthe top of a 1-gallon plastic milk or water jug. Ask volunteer to placea layer of soil on the bottom, then alternate layers of soil and garbage,leaving a layer of soil at the top. The garbage should include a varietyof organic and inorganic items: a metal barrette or paper clip, a pieceof plastic, a piece of aluminum foil, a piece of newspaper, a candy or gumwrapper, a piece of food (apple, orange or banana skin). Children will sprinklewater, seal the openings with masking tape, and cover with the lid. Openthe lid to air and water the landfill approximately every other day.
For the dump, fill a second plastic jug with soil and place the garbageon top. Sprinkle the dump periodically with water and leave it uncovered.
The children will list all of the items they have placed into their dumpsand landfills and keep separate charts monitoring the changes in both. Atthe end of the observation period (20 to 30 days), discuss with childrenthe differences between what happened in the dump and in the landfill.
-What happens to the garbage in a open dump?
Discussion:
In the dump, over a period of time you can expect the food to rot and smellslightly. The newspaper will also begin to break down. (You may wish toexplain the process of decomposition to children.) Paper wrappers will decomposeas well, but plastic will not. The metal barrette will gradually rust andnothing will happen to the plastic or aluminum foil. Very little decompositionshould take place in the landfill and it should not smell.
-What happens to the garbage in a sanitary landfill?
Point out to children that, in the past, dumps did not protect the surroundingenvironment from the trash dumped into them. Landfills present better waysof disposing of our garbage. Modern sanitary landfills prevent waste frompolluting or contaminating the land around them. Deposited waste is covereddaily with soil for added protection.
Children will become aware that many of the environmental problems associatedwith dumps have been eliminated with landfills, which will continue to bethe major form of disposal for many years to come. They should also realizethat little decomposition occurs in this type of landfill.
Lesson V
Vocabulary: burning, ash, combustor
Materials:
-matches or lighter
-tin can
-pieces of scrap food
Time Allotment: 40-60 minute class periods
Procedure:
The teacher will demonstrate open burning of waste. This activity will beobserved by the children. We will use a tin can and punch air holes aroundthe bottom. The children will place in it a small piece of waste food (suchas an apple core, egg shell, small piece of carrot), aluminum foil, plasticwrap, glass and newspaper. In a safe place outdoors, the teacher will lighta match to the waste and the children will observe what happens.
-which items burn and which do not?
-which things melt?
Discussion:
The paper will burn easily. The food will char, but not really burn. Theplastic will catch on fire and drip down into the pan, giving off fumes,and leaving a sticky residue. The metals will not burn at all.
-When we burn our garbage, where does the smoke go? Is this air pollution?
Explain that waste can be burned safely and that harmful effects on theenvironment can be greatly reduced by using properly constructed and operatedwaste combustors. These combustors must have special controls to avoid pollutingthe air. Children will observe that after the waste has been burned, thereis still ash left over. This ash should be disposed of in a specially constructedsanitary landfill.
Tell children that land disposal and combustion are two ways that communitiescan manage their waste. Source reduction (reducing waste before it is produced),combined with recycling (reusing what would otherwise be a waste product)is a major aid to waste management.
Lesson VI
Vocabulary: runoff
Materials: shredded paper, food scraps, tin can, water, coffee, a clearbowl
Activity:
Children will discover that garbage can also pollute water. The childrenwill place different types of garbage such as shredded paper, food scraps,a tin can, and a dark liquid such as coffee into a clear bowl containingclean water. The children will observe the changes in the water after eachaddition.
The children will observe that water becomes polluted by garbage even whenthe garbage is not put directly into the water. Have the children pour someink onto a mound of sand that has been placed in a bowl. Explain to thechildren that the ink represents the pollutants in garbage. Sprinkle waterover the mound (to represent rain) until it drains into the bowl.
Explain to the children that in the environment this water would run offinto rivers and lakes or would seep down into the ground and pollute thewater there. Help children to understand that there is water in the groundthat we use for drinking and bathing, and that this water can become pollutedby runoff by garbage that is not properly managed.
Lesson Assessment: Upon completion of the lesson:
-The children should be able to understand the importance of keeping ourearth clean.
-The children should be able to point out where pollution comes from andhow it effects our environment.
-The children should be able to sort litter for recycling purposes.
-The children should be able to tell what happens to waste in a dump andin a landfill.
-The children should be able to explain the harmful effects of burning andthe alternative of waste combustion.
-The children should be able to explain how garbage can pollute the water.