Topic: Waste management

Author: Joanna Borgensztajn

Target group

8th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

General requirements

IV. Reasoning and applying the acquired knowledge to solving biological problems. Student:

1. interprets information and explains causal relationships between phenomena, formulates conclusions.

General aim of education

You will learn the types of waste and find out how to handle them

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• distinguish waste types;

• assess the impact of waste on human health and the environment;

• justify the need for waste segregation;

• justify the need for special collection of hazardous waste;

• propose actions to reduce the amount of waste generated.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• exposing

  • exposition.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Students get acquainted with the content of the abstract. They prepare to work on the lesson in such a way to be able to summarize the material read in their own words and solve the tasks themselves.

Introduction

• The teacher gives the topic, the goals of the lesson in a language understandable for the student, and the criteria of success.

• The teacher initiates a conversation introducing the topic.

  • What do you know about ...?

  • Have you ever met ...?

Realization

• The teacher divides the class into groups. Each group assigns to one of the following topics based on resources from the lesson: the problem of product packaging; waste utilization and recycling; composting and biogas plants; incinerators and rubbish dumps; waste segregation; rules for handling electro‑garbage; rules for dealing with expired medicines.

• The representative of each group refers to the assigned topic. Students from other groups ask for additional explanations, ask questions and discuss with the referring group. If necessary, the teacher complements students' statements.

• The teacher displays illustrations titled Reducing food waste, asks pupils to thoroughly analyze the content on it. He asks students what else can be done to avoid wasting food at home or in restaurants..

• Students perform exercises and commands. The teacher checks and supplements the answers, providing students with the necessary information. Provides feedback..

• The students consolidate the acquired information, discussing it with their nearest neighbors („tell your neighbor” method).

Summary

• At the end of the lesson the teacher asks: If there was going to be a test on the material we have covered today, what questions do you think would you have to answer? If the students do not manage to name all the most important questions, the teacher may complement their suggestions.

Homework

• Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

• Make at home a note from the lesson using the sketchnoting method.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Waste management

As the economy grows, so does the amount of packaging and one‑use products we throw away. Waste lying around is an eyesore, it pollutes the environment, and some types of waste like plastic bags or chewing gum are a deadly hazard to animals.

Waste should be reprocessed, that is used to recover as many secondary raw materials as possible.

Organic waste such as leftovers, mowed grass, fallen leaves, straw and sawdust should be composted. Compostable waste is used to build piles, with every layer having oxygen access. This way, soil micro‑organisms decompose such waste and turn it into fertiliser. During waste fermentation, some micro‑organisms give off methane, a fuel gas. Methane is produced in landfills, in water treatment plants, and in fertiliser and compost piles. Some landfills are equipped with degassing facilities, sometimes connected to systems of methane reclamation from biogas. Methane production during organic waste fermentation is also used in biogas plants: facilities for the production of methane, which can be used as a power source. As a substrate in biogas plants, organic components of municipal solid waste, agricultural waste, or sludge from water treatment plants may be used.

Many types of waste are incinerated in waste incineration plants. This reprocessing method is expensive but faster than recycling or composting ever‑growing piles. Incinerators burn waste in 1100°C. turning it into components that are relatively safe for the environment. The small amounts of hazardous substances are intercepted by filters and neutralised. Ashes are used for building materials. Waste incineration provides energy as well. Incineration plants have to comply with very high security standards.

Substances and equipment that may contaminate the environment may not be disposed along with municipal solid waste.

Energy‑saving lightbulbs, fluorescent lamps, batteries, and electronic devices are known as electronic waste. They contain certain amounts of very hazardous compounds, and should be turned in at municipal waste selective collection points to recover rare and valuable elements.

A category of waste that requires special processing is out‑of‑date medicine. Expired drugs may not be combined with mixed waste or flushed down the toilet; this way, they will not be reprocessed, and their component substances can end up in water reservoirs, groundwater, and drinkable water inlets.

Municipal solid waste management is a problematic matter in Poland as most of the waste is dumped at landfills.

Many landfills are simply depressions in the ground or excavation sites that were used to dump waste over the years. Due to its direct contact with the environment, noxious substances are leached by water and moved to soil and watercourse, and dust and gases, including methane, are released into the atmosphere. The surrounding area is also contaminated as some of the waste is blown away outside of the landfill by the wind.

Waste is easier to manage if it is segregated. This is why it is crucial to sort and collect different types of waste separately—paper, plastic, metal, glass, organic waste and hazardous waste such as depleted batteries, fluorescent lamps, electronic equipment, and chemicals. Thanks to selective collection, some of the waste will be reprocessed for raw materials, and some, incinerated. The goal of waste management is to minimise the amount of waste stored.

• Waste should be reprocessed.

• Waste must absolutely be segregated.