Science Lessons and Activities Teacher’s Guide Grade 5 Interactive science, engineering, and environmental lessons, with a reproducible letter for parents Take a closer look at www.theresponsiblepackage.com. Dear educator, Welcome to The Responsible Package program. We hope that these activities and resources are a helpful tool in your classroom as you teach a variety of science, math, environmental, and consumer education concepts. This in-school program aims to build • an understanding of why paper-based packaging is a responsible choice for consumers, and • awareness about responsible consumer behavior regarding paper-based packaging. We will approach both of these objectives through standards-based science and engineering instruction in an action-oriented and hands-on approach. Each activity will focus on dispelling myths by posing questions that ask students to think about making responsible choices. The activities will also bring awareness to the role that paper-based packaging plays in protecting the environment, reducing waste, and preserving natural resources. These activities support both the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math education) initiative and the new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), illustrated in the chart on page 3. The activities are offered in sequence, but can be taught in any order that fits your individual classroom needs. In addition, a set of activities that families can do at home is also included. It is important that children learn to make responsible choices as they become consumers and will begin to have a real impact on their environment. By educating children on environmental issues, such as the benefits of using paper-based packaging, making responsible choices will inevitably become a lifelong habit. Through The Responsible Package program, students discover ways of engaging others in the community in the discussion and making positive changes to increasing the amount of paper-based packaging recycled at school and at home, as well as improving recycling in their communities. Students also learn that they can effect change by doing their own small part in making responsible choices. Your friends at The Responsible Package Take a closer look at www.theresponsiblepackage.com. 2 Related Next Generation Science Standards Earth and Human Activity 5-ESS3-1 Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment. • Obtain and combine information from books and/or other reliable media to explain phenomena or solutions to a design problem. (5-ESS3-1) • Human activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life have had major effects on the land, vegetation, streams, ocean, air, and even outer space. But individuals and communities are doing things to help protect Earth’s resources and environments. (5-ESS3-1) Engineering Design 3-5-ETS1-1 Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost. 3-5-ETS1-2 Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem. 3-5-ETS1-3 Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved. • Define a simple design problem that can be solved through the development of an object, tool, process, or system and includes several criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost. (3-5-ETS1-1) • Plan and conduct an investigation collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence, using fair tests in which variables are controlled and the number of trials considered. (3-5-ETS1-3) • Generate and compare multiple solutions to a problem based on how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the design problem. (3-5-ETS1-2) • Possible solutions to a problem are limited by available materials and resources (constraints). The success of a designed solution is determined by considering the desired features of a solution (criteria). Different proposals for solutions can be compared on the basis of how well each one meets the specified criteria for success or how well each takes the constraints into account. (3-5-ETS1-1) • Research on a problem should be carried out before beginning to design a solution. Testing a solution involves investigating how well it performs under a range of likely conditions. (3-5-ETS1-2) • At whatever stage, communicating with peers about proposed solutions is an important part of the design process, and shared ideas can lead to improved designs. (3-5-ETS1-2) • Tests are often designed to identify failure points or difficulties, which suggest the elements of the design that need to be improved. (3-5-ETS1-3) • Different solutions need to be tested in order to determine which of them best solves the problem, given the criteria and the constraints. (3-5-ETS1-3) • People’s needs and wants change over time, as do their demands for new and improved technologies. (3-5-ETS1-1) • Engineers improve existing technologies or develop new ones to increase their benefits, decrease known risks, and meet societal demands. (3-5-ETS1-2) 3 Activity 1 The Future of Packaging How does harvesting trees for wood and paper products affect the environment? Objective Students will explain how forests contribute to the health of the environment and then describe ways in which U.S. forests continue to thrive through the efforts of the paper industry and other initiatives. Overview Students will explore “tree farming” and how it promotes responsible harvesting and sustainability. Students will create graphical projections of the growth of trees and forests in 10, 25, and 100 years, based on current harvesting and growth trends. Materials and Resources • American Tree Farm System http://www.treefarmsystem.org/ • Sustainable Forestry Initiative http://www.sfiprogram.org • Forest Stewardship Council http://www.us.fsc.org Procedure 1. Brainstorm with students the ways in which people specifically for the paper industry to produce use trees. Examples might include wood for homes and sustainable packaging. furniture, writing paper, skateboards, books, etc. Next, have • The U.S. grows more trees than it harvests. The students list other benefits provided by trees and forests, standing inventory (volume of growing trees) on U.S. besides the material objects made from their wood. timberlands has increased by 51 percent between 1953 Answers should include: They help provide clean air; they and 2006. provide fruit and nuts; they provide homes for animals; • During 2006, the national growth to removals ratio they offer shade; and they lower energy costs in your was 1.72, which indicates that timber growth exceeded home. If necessary, students can spend 10-15 minutes removals by 72 percent researching this question in small groups. 4. Next, have students work in small groups to create line or 2. Then, ask students these questions: What happens when bar graphs that project the growth of trees and forests trees are harvested for wood or to make paper? How can in 10, 25, and 100 years, based on current harvesting and the U.S. be sure that there will be trees in the future? Why growth trends as reflected by the statistics. Afterwards, do trees need to be replaced when they are harvested? have groups come together to compare and contrast their 3. Have students research the answers to these questions graphs. Students should explain how they arrived at their and collect data related to sustainable forests. Share projections and discuss any differences among the groups. the following concepts with your students, explaining as 5. As an extension, with permission, plant one or more trees necessary depending on the level of your students: on school grounds with your class. • Paper-based packaging comes from an infinitely renewable resource — originating from materials that are sustainably grown, managed, and harvested Take a closer look at www.theresponsiblepackage.com. 4 Activity 2 Paper, Please Is choosing a paper bag when shopping a responsible choice? Objective Students will describe several ways in which paper bags are environmentally sound. Overview Students will explore the benefits of choosing paper bags in a retail store and describe why paper bags are environmentally sound (recycling, biodegradability, sustainable sourcing, and reusing, etc.). After brainstorming alternative uses for paper bags, they will create a storyboard for a video titled “A Day in the Life of a Paper Bag” culminating in a bag being used in a creative way. Materials and Resources • 20 Ways to Reuse a Paper Grocery Bag http://www.fcgov.com/recycling/pdf/kereuse.pdf • Internet access • Drawing paper and crayons, markers, or colored pencils • Paper bags in a variety of sizes Procedure 1. Have students brainstorm a list of the benefits of using different sizes. Have them brainstorm and share all the paper bags at the checkout. Allow all answers, but the final ways they can be used. list should emphasize that paper bags are: 3. Distribute drawing paper and writing materials to students • reusable in small groups or pairs. Then, ask each group of students • strong to prepare to create their own video, “A Day in the Life of • versatile a Paper Bag.” For example, students might show how a • recyclable paper bag begins in a grocery store, travels to a shopper’s • biodegradable home, moves to a neatly folded stack of bags in the pantry, • made from sustainable renewable sources/ and is then decorated and used to cover a student’s book. recycled materials Each video should culminate in being reused in a creative way followed by being recycled. Students can work in small groups to define these terms by doing brief Internet research, with particular focus 4.