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Elementary school curriculum resources

Garbage and recycling  ›  Resources for schools  ›  Elementary school resources  ›  Curriculum materials for loan

Find resources to teach your students about composting, recycling and waste prevention.

Borrowed materials need to be picked up and returned to Metro by the borrower. The loan period is two weeks.

Resources for Composting

Worms Eat Our Garbage, Wormania!

Classroom activities book and DVD

150 worm-related classroom or home activities that integrate science, mathematics, language arts, biology, solid waste issues, ecology and environmental knowledge.

Wormania! features close-up scenes of live earthworms at work in their natural habitat. 1995, DVD or VHS, 26 minutes

Worm Bin Creatures Alive Through a Microscope

This video takes a closer look at organisms often seen in a worm bin. Narration includes fun facts about the organisms. DVD or VHS, 31 minutes, all ages.

The Worm Cafe - Mid-scale Vermicomposting of Lunchroom Wastes

The manual describes how to set up, maintain and manage a mid-scale worm composting program at a school.

Waste prevention and recycling curriculum

Presentation kits

Designed to be used by after-school groups or summer camps, the following kits include lesson plans and materials to teach youth more about waste prevention and recycling:

Bugged by Pesticides, grades 4-5: Youth play a game to learn more how pesticides affect animals in a food chain and safer alternatives to use at home.

Earth Choices, grades 4-5: Youth play a game to learn simple ways to reduce their impact on the planet.

Resource Connections, grades 1-3: Children connect natural resources to common objects and discover why it's important to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Squirmy Wormy Composters, grades k-5: A hands-on look at life in a worm bin engages observation skills and generates excitement for composting at home.

Papermaking kit

Includes blender, tubs, screens

Using Trash

Scholastic learning kit for grades K-2

The Adventures of Wayan and the 3 R's

Introduce younger students to the three “R’s” of the environment and inspire creative recycling and reuse projects. The video centers on six year old Wayan who lives in Bali and features traditional “shadow puppets” and the culture of Indonesia. 1995, VHS, 15 minutes, ages 5-8

Wake Up Freddy

Follow Freddy through his morning routine and trace the resources that it takes to get him going: the path energy takes to get to Freddy's house and to power his alarm, the water for his shower, and even where the water goes when it washes down his drain. 1993, VHS, 21 minutes, grades 2-7

Where Does My Garbage Go?

A fun film to teach kids about waste and recycling. 2000, VHS, 26 minutes, grades k-5

Related Internet links

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency resources for teachers

  (http://www.epa.gov/teachers/)

• Oregon State Department of Environmental Quality resources for teachers

  (http://www.deq.state.or.us/lq/education/index.htm)