Elementary Goes GREEN!

The first thing I had to do was research the topic. I used DoSomething.org for all of my research. The next step was to outline my classroom lesson plans. I prepared 7 outlines that covered the entire local elementary school. When I went to speak with the students, we talked about what recycling is, where to take recyclables, what is recyclable, and we practiced recycling by playing a recycling relay game that I made up. Before I left each classroom I explained my challenge for them. For the next four weeks they were to bring in as much plastic numbered 1 and 2 to their new classroom recycling bins (provided by a local organization). Three times a week I counted and collected each class's plastic and kept a tally of how much was being recycled. January 19, 2011 was the last day of the challenge, and on January 21, 2011 I conducted an assembly for the entire elementary student body. In the assembly I congratulated all the classes for their hard work and dedication to recycle! I also thanked them for getting family members and local businesses involved with recycling. My goal for this challenges was to have them recycle long enough that the families would get in the habit of recycling. At the assembly I passed out certificates to each student and customized stainless steel water bottles! The class with the most pieces of plastic also won a pizza lunch party in their classroom! Teachers and community members have told me what an awesome program it has been and that they plan to keep recycling at home! In 4 weeks this elementary school recycled a combined total of 5, 184 pieces of plastic (and I had to count every one of those!) It was an amazing experience that impacted the entire community. I am very excited that my program was successful and that the students were so dedicated!