ABSTRACT

This activity, firstly aims to evaluate waste materials using STEAM disciplines, calculate the daily waste produced at home and design products from waste. Secondly, they will make seed balls and observe the seed germination. Finally, students will write an acrostic poem. As a result of the event, it is aimed that students take action to reduce waste at school and at home. And moreover, they are expected to change their behavior in their daily lives.

Age of Student: 13-14
Activity duration: 4 lessons

INTRODUCTION

The world population is growing rapidly. At the same time the need for energy is also increasing. Therefore, it is necessary to meet the energy needs of future generations without ignoring today’s needs. Firstly, the depletion of natural resources based on sustainable development should be prevented. Secondly, resources should be used consciously. It is possible to do this with recycling. Thanks to sustainable development, a healthy, quality life and quality education can be provided. Moreover, poverty and hunger can be ended through sustainable development. To summarize, individuals should be aware of the fact that natural resources are limited and can be depleted.
Firstly, the teacher asks the following questions to students. “Are natural resources infinite?”, “Which of the items you throw away can be re-evaluated?”, “Are the wastes that we consider as garbage really garbage?“. In conclusion, students have used brainstorming to generate ideas. Then they watched 2 videos explaining the importance of recycling and sustainable development.

Integration Into the Curriculum

• The subject of the learning scenario belongs to the secondary school curriculum of our country.
• They perform seed ball making and germination activities for the biology and science lesson.
• They calculate the amount of waste for the math lesson. Finally, they learn how much waste they produce in 1 year.
• They design products related to the technology and design course curriculum.

The processing stages of the lesson are as follows:

1. Separation of Solid Wastes

Based on these questions about “Household Waste and Recycling”, we organized a STEAM event. During the online education process, my students collected the waste in their homes for a day. They classified these solid wastes they collected as glass, paper, plastic and food. And they weighed their quantities and took notes. They calculated how much waste all the students (25 students) in the classroom had accumulated in one day during the lecture at Zoom. During this period, they discussed which wastes could be recycled and which wastes could be reused. They talked about recycling, separating the wastes into raw materials and re-entering the production process. They argued that in re-use, we can use them many times until their economic life is over.

Meanwhile, calculating the total 1-day waste of the classroom, they found approximately how much waste they accumulated in 1 year. Finally, they played digital games and had fun on the learningapps and jigsawplanet site.

2. From Seed to Sapling

We germinated the fruit and vegetable seeds we bought 1 month before SDC21. Education starts in the family first and we observed avocado germination with my son. My students saw that as a plant was growing, first the root and then the stem began to grow. While the stem resists the force of gravity, the root cannot resist gravity and moves towards it.

We look forward to seeing the saplings they have grown a few years later. Moreover, they ensured that the red pine seeds distributed by the school administration met with the soil.

3. Recovery Product

Using paper and plastic waste, students designed products from recyclable materials. When the school opens, we plan to exhibit it in the school exhibition. Finally, they shared the importance of recycling with their friends by writing on the padlet.

4. Making a Seed Balls

They watched a short video about the seed balls. They realized how important the seed balls are for the animals living in nature to find better food. Then they looked at this video and talked about how the seed balls could benefit animals, soil and nature. Then they made seed balls with black cumin seeds. They shared their opinions on the benefits of plant formation in the soil to regenerate and aerate the soil.

https://youtu.be/dsm1GpAWLwY

5. Writing Poetry

As a collaborative work, they wrote acrostic poetry together.

NATURE IS OUR HOME
Nature! We can’t separate ourselves.
All living things are our friends.
There is no other place but the world.
Under the trees, we are so happy to live.
Rain, clouds, winds, seas and lakes add beauty to nature
Every living creature in nature is our friend.
It is the totality of living and non-living beings.
Seas, forests, deserts are our home.
Our lives depend on our respect for nature.
Unappropriate attitude harms our environment.
Reading science gives us a lot of information about nature.
However, a healthy future requires a conscious generation.
Our attitude towards nature affects future generations.
Many wrong without erasing the right
Every being must protect where they live.

AT THE END OF THE LESSON, STUDENTS;

• Learn the resources necessary for life and gain knowledge and skills for the economical use of resources.
• Develop creative thinking.
• Separate solid wastes for reuse.
• Realize the importance of recycling and recovery.
• Students become aware of the problem and develop their skills, and conduct research to solve these problems.
• They know that they should value the environment they live in, nature and animals.