Outdoor Activity

In this lesson students will learn about which types of matter can decompose by conducting a simple experiment. Students will observe changes over time due to decomposition, notice patterns and classify materials based on their ability to decompose, and explain how matter changes through decomposition.

In this lesson students pose questions about the nature of the litter found around their school, make predictions, do a campus cleanup to cultivate environmental stewardship, and then brainstorm solutions to prevent litter. 

Students will record what type of plastic pollution they find in their community as they walk through their neighborhood, around their school, or in a local park, shoreline or beach using a map. This data collection will indicate the type(s) of pollution found, identify its potential sources, and begin to think about local solutions to plastic pollution.

Understand where, how much and what kinds of debris are present in your environment using this activity that introduces the Urban Trash Monitoring Protocol.

See the effects of trash on an area by trying to find all of the items on this scavenger hunt. Students will be able to illustrate the types of human-made trash that occur in our urban spaces and explore how these items can affect the human and non-human world.