Recycling plays a critical role in reducing waste, conserving natural resources, and minimizing environmental pollution. Educating students about recycling from a young age helps ensure that future generations will be more mindful of their impact on the planet.
This activity is designed to help students understand the importance of recycling and identify which materials can be recycled.
The worksheet below will guide them through the process of recognizing recyclable and materials such as paper, plastic, and metal. Use additional resources to enhance the activity.
Choose an appliance or component to assess the recyclability of.
Think about what it is, what it’s used for, and how long it lasts.
Think about what it’s made of, why you might recycle it, and what the benefit would be.
Think about how you might recycle it, and what steps you might take.
Think about the barriers or challenges you might encounter and how you might overcome these.
From coins to gold recycling – how the Royal Mint is recovering gold from circuit boards.
E-waste hidden in your home – find out more about the treasure trove of materials that are in your unused electronic devices at home.
Materials in a mobile phone – explore the various devices inside your smartphone and learn about the huge range of materials used.
Separating materials – explore how properties of materials can be used to separate your recycling.
Recycling scavenger hunt – an activity to help identify which household waste materials can be recycled and which cannot.
WATMO Gallery – a virtual gallery of posters about sustainability by 9-10 year olds as part of the What Are Things Made Of (WATMO) project (run by 4wardFutures).
Please send in copies of your poster to info@discovermaterials.uk and let us know if you are happy for us to share your work on our website or social media platforms.
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