Kindergarten - Helping Hands: Keeping our Community Clean
Students will learn about the important role that community helpers play in keeping our neighbourhoods safe and clean. We will take a closer look at the roles and responsibilities of waste collectors and highlight how our actions (like reducing waste, recycling, and composting) can help make our community a better place to live, work, and play.
Grade 1 - Discover the Five "R's": Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle/Compost, and Recover
Students will be introduced to the Waste Hierarchy through the five "R's": Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle/Compost, and Recover. We will explore actions we can all take to prioritize and apply each of the five "R's" to minimize waste and pollution in our community.
Grade 2 - Clean Earth, Clean Water: Waste Management and Water Protection
Water is an essential resource for all living organisms. We will examine the relationship between responsible waste management and the quality of water in our communities, explore the potential effects of waste pollution, and highlight actions we can take to protect our water resources.
Grade 3 - Digging into Dirt: The Magic of Soil and Compost
We will explore the process of transforming organic material into a nutrient rich, soil-like material called humus. By investigating the types of materials that can be composted and the steps involved in this process, students will discover how composting serves as a circular method for waste reduction while producing a valuable resource.
Grade 4 - Taking Care of Our Planet: Natural Resources and Waste Management
We will explore natural resource, their importance, and the relationship between these materials and the products we purchase, consume, and use every day. We will investigate the potential environmental effects of a common single-use item and identify actions we can take to minimize our use of natural resources and reduce the waste we generate!
Grade 5 - Clean Communities: The Role of Civics in Waste Management
Students will explore the significance of community engagement in waste reduction efforts, understand the influence of local policies and regulations on waste management practices, and discover how individual actions play a role in achieving larger environmental objectives.
Grade 6 - Turning Waste into Energy: Exploring the Durham York Energy Centre
Even after applying the first four “R's”, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle/Compost, we can still end up producing garbage. Students will explore how our remaining household waste is used to generate electricity that can be used in our homes, schools, and businesses.
Grade 7/8 - Electronic Waste: The Hidden Impact of Our Gadgets
Students will be introduced to the concept of e-waste and examine how the rapid pace of technological advancement and consumer culture leads to a growing amount of e-waste that needs to be managed. We will explore the potential environmental, social, and economic consequences of these items, while emphasizing sustainable practices such as responsible consumption, effective recycling, and the creation of greener technologies to reduce these potential impacts and foster a healthier planet.
