You and your teammates have been requested by the Mayor of Waste Land to clean up the town.  The once beautiful, Waste Land, has become overrun with pollution.  You must visit Recycle City and other Internet sites and return to Waste Land to share your finding using a power point presentation for your classmates, the city council. 
 

You and your teammates must determine how the city of Waste Land can overcome the problems of pollution faced by its residents.  Your group of four students will each choose and assume the role of one of the following:

     1.  Grocery Store Manager
     2.  Gas Station Owner
     3.  Coffee & Book Shop Manager
     4.  Factory Owner

Once each group member has his or her new occupation, inform your teacher of your new role.  Then, your job begins!
 

Once you each have your new occupation, you will each go your separate ways to do your research.  But, remember that you are a group, so you need to help one another and meet to discuss your findings.

Step 1
Go to Recycle City and find a business similar to your business and learn how their business helps to reduce, reuse, and recycle. 

http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity/
Click on the address above to go to the address above.

Fill out the worksheet with the data you are finding.

Click here to print worksheet. (Word Document)

Click here to print PDF worksheet.

Completed By: ____________________

Your Company or Business: ____________________

Name of the Company or Business Visited at Recycle City: __________________

Write a paragraph (at least five complete sentences) describing how the business you visited in Recycle City supported and promoted the three R's (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle).
 
 
 

Write a paragraph (at least five complete sentences) describing how your business will incorporate the ideas from Recycle City into your recycling proposal for the city council.
 
 

Step 2
Once you have finished reviewing your Recycle City business and completing the worksheet, play the game Dump Town to learn even more about the benefits of the three R's and how the citizens of Recycle City are helping to save the planet.

http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity/gameintro.htm
Click on the address above to play the game Dump Town.

Step 3
It is time to meet with your teammates to discuss your findings.  Talk about your visits in Recycle City and the game Dump Town.  Once you have discussed your findings, it is once again time to assign roles.  Since each of you either manages or owns a business in Waste Land, your presentation to the city council of Waste Land will include information about how to incorporate the three R's into your business practices.  In addition to including information about your changing business practices, you will each be researching and reporting on a way for the community members of Waste Land to become involved in recycling practices.  You must decide which member will be researching each of the four areas listed.  Report your decisions to your teacher. 

     1. Visit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website and read A Kids' Adventure Story and complete the ground
         water experiment.  (You will also complete the experiment during the city council meeting.) Click here to go to the EPA website.

http://www.epa.gov/superfund/kids/story/page-0.htm
Click on the address above to go to the EPA website.

     2. Visit the Waste Watch website and learn about the process of making Recycled Paper.  (You will describe this process
         during the city council meeting.) 

http://www.wastewatch.org.uk/
Click on the address above to go to learn how to make recycled paper.
 

     3. Visit the Waste Watch website and learn how to make a Worm Composter.  (You will describe the process during the
         city council meeting.) 

http://www.wastewatch.org.uk/
Click on the address above to learn how to make a worm composter.

     4. Visit the Waste Watch website and determine how much of a "waster" you are in a given week by completing the 
         Weekly Waste Chart.  Then, review The Top 20 Waste Tips.  (You will describe your weekly waste chart and the 
         waste tips during the city council meeting.)

http://www.wastewatch.org.uk/
Click on the address above to find out about weekly waste and waste tips.

     5. Now it is time for your group to begin creating your power point slide show presentation.  The rubric included in the 
         Evaluation section will aid you in the creation of your power point slide show presentation.

     6. The slide show must include the following
                1. Title Slide (Creative and states the names and roles of each group member; may also include extras, such as 
                    "fly-ins" or sound)
                2. Introduction (Explains the purpose and problems to the city council members)
                3. Grocery Store Manager Slide (Lists and explains how the business you visited in Recycle City uses the 3 R's 
                    and how the new ideas will be used in your business.)
                4. Gas Station Owner Slide (Lists and explains how the business you visited in Recycle City uses the 3 R's and 
                   how the new ideas will be used in your business.)
                5. Coffee & Book Shop Manager Slide (Lists and explains how the business you visited in Recycle City uses the
                    3 R's and how the new ideas will be used in your business.)
                6. Factory Owner Slide (Lists and explains how the business you visited in Recycle City uses the 3 R's and how
                    the new ideas will be used in your business.)
                7. Story and Experiment Slide (Retelling highlights in the story and steps in the experiment)
                8. Recycled Paper Slide (Describes the process of making recycled paper)
                9. Worm Composter Slide (Describes the process of making a worm composter)
              10. Waste Watcher Slide (Describes The Weekly Waste Chart and The Top 20 Waste Tips)
              11. Conclusion Slide (Explains an overall review of the information found during the WebQuest in relation to the
                    roles of the group members)
 

Recycle City Website
     http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity/

EPA Website
     http://www.epa.gov/superfund/kids/story/page-0.htm
 

Waste Watch Website-Recycled Paper
     http://www.wastewatch.org.uk/

Waste Watch Website-Worm Composter
      http://www.wastewatch.org.uk/

Waste Watch Website-Weekly Waste and Top 20 Waste Tips
     http://www.wastewatch.org.uk/

Recycle City Worksheet

Recycle City WebQuest Rubric

The following matrix will be used to assess the group.  The first two categories, Research and Teamwork, will be determined by group members.
 

Category	Exemp-lary (5)	Accomp-lished (4)	Developing(3)	Beginning (2)	Needs Improvement (1)	Omitted (0)
Research(For the group members to assess)	All group members used the internet to find information about recycling at the various websites	All group members used the internet to find information, but did not visit each website	Three of the four group members used the internet to find information	Two of the four group members used the internet to find information	One of the group members used the internet to find information	No one used the internet to find information
Teamwork (For the group members to assess)	All group members did their role and the group worked well as a team	All group members did their role, but at times the group did not work as a team and had minor difficulties	Three of the four group members did their roles and worked well together	Three of the four group members did their roles, but had difficulty discussing at meetings	Two of the group members did their roles	Group members did not work as a group to complete the project
Worksheet	Completed by each group member and contained well written descriptive five sentence paragraphs	All completed the worksheet, but not all had descriptive paragraphs	Completed by three of the group members with descriptive paragraphs	Completed by two of the group members	Completed by one group member	Not completed by any of the group members
Introduction	Explains the purpose and problem to the city council with elaboration	Explains the purpose and problem to the city council with some elaboration	Explains the purpose and problem to the city council without elaboration	States the purpose and problem to the city council	States either the purpose or the problem to the city council, but not both	Not included
Title Slide	Creative with a title  and names and  defined roles of group members and the use of sound and/or and "fly-ins"	Creative with a title and names and defined roles of group members	States title and names and roles of group members	States the title and group members names	States the title	Not included
Grocery Store Slide	Creative extra (sound or fly-in), explains the 3 R's used by the visited business in Recycle City and solutions from Recycle City	Lists and explains the 3 R's used by the visited business in Recycle City and solutions from Recycle City	States the 3 R's used by the visited business in Recycle City and solution from Recycle City	States only the solutions from Recycle City	States only the 3 R's used by the business in Recycle City	Not included
Grocery Store Manager Presentation	Explains the 3 R's and solutions with elaboration	Explains the 3 R's and solutions with some elaboration	Explains the 3 R's and solutions with no elaboration	States the 3 R's and solutions	States either the 3 R's or the solution, but not both	Not included
Gas Station Slide	Creative extra (sound or fly-in), explains the 3 R's used by the visited business in Recycle City and solutions from Recycle City	Lists and explains the 3 R's used by the visited business in Recycle City and solutions from Recycle City	States the 3 R's used by the visited business in Recycle City and solution from Recycle City	States only the solutions from Recycle City	States only the 3 R's used by the business in Recycle City	Not included
Gas Station Owner Presentation	Explains the 3 R's and solutions with elaboration	Explains the 3 R's and solutions with some elaboration	Explains the 3 R's and solutions with no elaboration	States the 3 R's and solutions	States either the 3 R's or the solution, but not both	Not included
Coffee & Book Shop Slide	Creative extra (sound or fly-in), explains the 3 R's used by the visited business in Recycle City and solutions from Recycle City	Lists and explains the 3 R's used by the visited business in Recycle City and solutions from Recycle City	States the 3 R's used by the visited business in Recycle City and solution from Recycle City	States only the solutions from Recycle City	States only the 3 R's used by the business in Recycle City	Not included
Coffee Shop Manager Presentation	Explains the 3 R's and solutions with elaboration	Explains the 3 R's and solutions with some elaboration	Explains the 3 R's and solutions with no elaboration	States the 3 R's and solutions	States either the 3 R's or the solution, but not both	Not included
Factory Owner Slide	Creative extra (sound or fly-in), explains the 3 R's used by the visited business in Recycle City and solutions from Recycle City	Lists and explains the 3 R's used by the visited business in Recycle City and solutions from Recycle City	States the 3 R's used by the visited business in Recycle City and solution from Recycle City	States only the solutions from Recycle City	States only the 3 R's used by the business in Recycle City	Not included
Factory Owner Presentation	Explains the 3 R's and solutions with elaboration	Explains the 3 R's and solutions with some elaboration	Explains the 3 R's and solutions with no elaboration	States the 3 R's and solutions	States either the 3 R's or the solution, but not both	Not included
Ground Water Story and Experiment Slide and Presentation	Accurately retells story with elaboration and conducts the experiment with elaboration of steps	Accurately retells story and conducts the experiment, but only elaborates on one	Accurately retells story and conducts experiment	Accurately retells story or conducts experiment, but not both	Incorrect retelling of story or incorrect experiment	Not included
Recycled Paper Slide and Presentation	Accurately describes steps and elaborates on details	Accurately describes steps with some elaboration	Accurately describes steps	States steps in the correct order	States steps in the incorrect order	Not included
Worm Composter  Slide and Presentation	Accurately describes steps and elaborates on details	Accurately describes steps with some elaboration	Accurately describes steps	States steps in the correct order	States steps in the incorrect order	Not included
Weekly Waste Chart and Top 20 Waste Tips Slide and Presentation	Accurately describes the Weekly Waste Chart and Top 20 Waste Tips with elaboration	Accurately describes the Weekly Waste Chart and Top 20 Waste Tips, but only elaborates on one	Accurately describes Weekly Waste Chart and Top 20 Waste Tips, but does not elaborate	Accurately describes either Weekly Waste Chart or Top 20 Waste Tips, but inaccurately describes the other	Inaccurately describes the Weekly Waste Chart and Top 20 Waste Tips	Not included
Conclusion	Explains conclusion with relation to roles and elaborates	Explains conclusion with relation to roles with some elaboration	Explains conclusion without relation to roles and little elaboration	States conclusion without relation to roles	States conclusion	Not Included
City Council Questions	Answers all questions from the city council with accurate data and extended responses	Answers all questions from the city council with accurate data and limited extended responses	Answers all questions from the city council with accurate data	Answers most questions from the city council with accurate data	Answers questions with inaccurate data	Does not answer questions
Overall Effort Displayed	Significant amount of time and effort shown	Above average amount of time and effort shown	Average amount of time and effort shown	Less than average amount of time and effort shown	More time and effort needed	No sign of time or effort shown

You have learned about the 3 R's, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.  You have learned about practical ways for businesses to utilize the 3 R's in their daily practices.  You have learned about ground water contamination, the steps involved in making recycled paper and a worm composter, and ways to reduce your daily wastes.  Your group created a Power Point slide presentation to display all your newly acquired knowledge. 

Just think about all the ways your knowledge can aid others in helping to keep the Earth Clean and Beautiful! 

My 3 R's for you are: 
Remember what you have learned,
Reach out to others, and
Relay the information you have learned to others.

Teacher Resources

I would recommend sharing the book Wump World written by Bill Pete to open the unit.

4th Grade Proficiency Outcomes

       Citizenship: 10, 17
       Reading: 1, 3, 9c, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19c
       Science: 14, 17
       Writing: 1, 2, 9