Education Standards
Steps for Timeline of a Spoon
Timeline of a Plastic Spoon
Overview
Students build a model of the steps taken for a plastic spoon to reach the landfill. Through this, they learn about the energy and resources used in the process and devise actions people can take to minimize the impact on the environment.
Timeline of a Spoon
| Grade | 3-5 |
| Number of Students | 15-30 |
| Lesson Duration | 45-60 min |
Summary
Students will build a model of the steps for a spoon to reach the landfill. Through this, they learn about the energy and resources used in the process and devise actions people can take to minimize the impact on the environment.
Subject
Energy use / Waste and Recycling/ Environmental science / Climate change impacts / Human activity
Objective
Students will:
- Sequence steps of the waste stream.
- Model energy and water use in the waste stream system.
- Identify how what we throw away affects climate change.
Materials
- 5 sets of the following:
- 7 fuel containers
- 3 droplets of water
- 8 pieces of land
- 8 people
- 5 Whiteboards
- 5 Dry Erase Markers
- 5 Erasers
Lesson Prep
- Queue the video on how a plastic spoon is made: The Story of a Spoon
- Print out 5 copies of the Steps for Timeline of a Spoon.
- Cut each step out, set aside steps 1 and 9, and place the rest into envelopes.
- Print 2 copies of the Resource cards and cut out all the resources.
- Place 7 fuel containers, 3 droplets of water, 8 pieces of land, and 8 people in each envelope, along with steps 2-8 of the Timeline
Background
Garbage is a very big deal and growing. The average person living in the United States throws away about 4.5 pounds of trash daily. That adds up to a population of over 329 million people! Almost everything we do creates waste, which can have major environmental impacts in various ways. People would rather set it outside and just forget
about it, but garbage is causing some pretty big problems! Most of the garbage ends up in landfills and can harm the environment and animals. It can even end up in oceans and litter across our community. We want to think about ways to use less and recycle more.
Where does the garbage go?
The following information describes where waste goes in Whatcom County Washington. It provides an example of what may happen in your community as well.
The garbage thrown out at school gets picked up by a garbage truck. If your school is in Bellingham, Ferndale, or Blaine, this garbage truck works for a company called the Sanitary Service Company. If your school is in Lynden, Everson, Nooksack, or Sumas, the garbage will be picked up by a garbage truck from Nooksack Valley Disposal.
After the garbage is crushed into one-ton blocks at a transfer station, it will then be transported to The Roosevelt Landfill in Roosevelt, WA, or the Columbia Ridge Landfill near the Columbia River on the border between Oregon and Washington. Roosevelt Landfill is lined with clay and high-density polyethylene plastic. Underground pipes collect leachate and send it to be treated. The total landfill is 2,545 acres. It will hold 120 million tons of garbage before it closes in about 35 years. Columbia Ridge is similar to Roosevelt; it’s also lined with clay and high-density polyethylene plastic. However, it is a much larger facility covering about 12,000 acres. Columbia Ridge processes 2 million tons of waste each year and still has space for another 330 million tons before it will be capped.
South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources
What is happening at a landfill?
The bottom layer of the landfill consists of a liner that keeps trash and byproducts separate from the environment and groundwater. Some liners are made up of compacted clay which is normally made of dense, compacted clay solid enough to prevent waste, liquid, or gas leaks from seeping into the environment. They may also use plastic liners.
On top of the liner, you’ll find a stormwater drainage system that filters out the liquids produced by trash and the water collected from rain and snow. This layer is essential because it separates the produced liquids from solid waste. Another drainage system specifically filters out the liquid produced by trash, called leachate, from any rainwater and the rest of the landfill.
The gas collection system uses extraction wells and pipes throughout the landfill to carry landfill gas that’s generated when waste decomposes to treatment areas, where it is then vented, burned, or converted into energy.
A landfill is permanently capped with a plastic liner when it is full. After it’s capped, the landfill is covered with two feet of soil. Then, vegetation (typically grass and plants without penetrating roots) is planted on top to prevent soil erosion due to rainfall and wind. The landfill is monitored for 30 years to ensure there is no detrimental impact on the environment.
How landfills impact the environment
Producing goods and then transporting them uses a large number of fossil fuels and natural resources. When items are thrown out and transported to the landfill, all those resources that were used to produce and transport those items are wasted, and when they get buried in the landfill, methane is produced as it breaks down.
Some other ways that a landfill could harm the environment include:
- When the garbage in a landfill begins to decompose, other harmful gases like carbon dioxide are released, which pollute the air and contribute to climate change.
- Landfills are huge, which means that a lot of space and land is required to create a landfill. That space could have been used instead to make a beautiful park for people to enjoy!
- Lastly, the items sent to the landfill will be there for a very long time. Due to the lack of oxygen when compacted, the items will not decompose or will take hundreds of years to decompose. For example, a glass jar may still be whole in a landfill in a million years!
Procedure
Introduction (10-15 minutes)
- Show the video The Story of a Spoon
- Prompting questions for pair share or group discussion:
What surprised you in the video?
Where do you think the things we throw away go? (to a landfill)
Show a photo or illustration of a landfill explaining the different parts. (See Background)
Has anyone seen a landfill or know what it looks like?
The video showed all the work to create a plastic spoon. What about the work it takes to dispose of one?
Activity: Timeline of a Spoon (20 minutes)
Putting the steps in order
- Tell the students they will now be placed into groups to learn more about landfills and what steps the things we throw out will go through before it meets the end of its life
- Place students in groups of 4
- Pass out the first and last step of the timeline to each group, along with a whiteboard, pen, and eraser
- Have students discuss with their group and write down at least 3 more steps they think the garbage goes through from the beginning to the end
- When each group has finished, have each group share one step they wrote down
- Write down the steps on the board, or have a slide ready to present to the students. Here are the actual steps that can be shared with students (note these are steps local to Whatcom County in Washington State):
- Garbage is picked up by either Sanitary Service Company or Nooksack Valley Disposal
- A garbage truck takes it to one of two transfer stations in Ferndale (Republic Services on Slater Rd or Recycling & Disposal Services on La Bounty Dr)
- The transfer station compacts garbage into 25-27 ton blocks (1 ton=2000 lbs)
- Some blocks are loaded onto a train to Roosevelt Landfill
- Some containers go to Seattle, then are shipped to Columbia Ridge Landfill in Arlington, OR
- Shipping containers are taken off and placed into semi-trucks
- Garbage is dumped around the landfill
- Water is sprayed on garbage so it doesn’t blow away as easily
- It is then buried and compacted with more soil
Adding Resource Cards
- Distribute an envelope with the remaining steps of the timeline of a spoon to each group. The envelope should also have 7 fuel containers, 8 pieces of land, 3 water droplets, and 8 people/workers
- Ask the group to revise and complete their timeline with the other steps, and then decide at which steps what types of resources are used (for example, if it is a step that involves driving, then the resource of fuel is used, so place a fuel container next to that step); most steps will have more than one resource being used, and you may have leftover resources at the end
- After every group has had a chance to place resources in their timeline, ask each group to share what resources they think are involved in each step. Write them down on the board as each group takes a turn to share.
- Afterward, have the group discuss and write down on the whiteboard at least 3 environmental concerns of landfills.
- When they finish discussing, have each group share 1 environmental concern they wrote down. Some examples could be:
- Leachate could contaminate groundwater
- Litter (and then to the garbage patch in the ocean) could blow away at multiple points in the process
- Uses a lot of fuel to transport garbage, which can lead to more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
- When items decompose, they produce methane, another greenhouse gas
- Air pollution
- Items will take a long time to decompose if they decompose at all
- Animal and human health
- There is just not enough room; each person creates about 4.5 lbs of garbage a day
Optional: Pair & Share: Would the timeline be different if it were paper instead?
Conclusion (10-15 minutes)
Pair & Share: What can we do to reduce the amount of waste that we throw in the landfill? Some examples could include:
- Refuse - When you say “No thanks” to a waiter asking if you want a straw. That means that there is one less straw in the landfill.
- Reduce - Some ways to reduce waste include buying products with minimal packaging, using a cloth bag instead of paper or plastic, and buying durable products with a longer life span.
- Reuse - This is when you use waste as something new. Reusing does not require the expense of energy or new materials because the manufacturing process is not involved. Examples: doing upcycling projects with items you would normally throw away, using both sides of a piece of paper, saving and using plastic or paper grocery bags for future visits, and donating unwanted items such as clothing, books, or toys to a charity.
- Recycle - When you change material into other new products and materials to prevent waste of items that are still good. When something is recycled, that item will be broken entirely into tiny pieces. It will then be melted and formed into new shapes. Recycling conserves natural resources, reduces air and water pollution, and saves energy. Optional: students can watch this video or this shorter video to learn more about the recycling process.
- Rot - Organic materials like plants that cannot be reused or recycled can be decomposed to produce compost, a rich soil amendment that helps plants grow.
- Compost needs worms, some dirt, water, oxygen, and green things like grass clippings and food scraps, and brown items like newspapers, leaves, and/or hay; water and air.
- About 25% of the materials that go into the landfill are excellent candidates for composting.
- FoodPlus!: If your school has FoodPlus! Containers, the stuff that gets put in those bins, will be brought to Green Earth Technology in Lynden. You can watch a video on how it happens at this link.
Pair & Share or Classroom pledge: What is one thing you will do to reduce waste and send fewer things to the landfill?
Resources used
Waste Part 2 - Columbia Ridge Landfill, Arlington, Oregon Episode 1302
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