An abundance of free recycling curriculums can be found online. Create your next lesson plan using one of the following resources:
Friends of Madrona Marsh The Madrona Marsh Preserve and Nature Center offers opportunities for volunteering and service learning every Saturday from 8:45am to 12 noon. Volunteering can be used towards community service hours for high school and college. Open to all ages; participants 14 years and under must be accompanied by an adult and all participants 18 and under must have a waiver signed by a parent or legal guardian. Students can help restore the Preserve, removing non-native plants, replacing them with native ones, and picking up any trash left behind at the Preserve. We provide snacks and drinks at 10:30 a.m. so participants should have eaten a good breakfast before arriving.
Health World’s Safety Smart Goes Green A digital instruction course in which The Lion King’s animated characters Timon and Pumbaa teach children grades about green practices, focusing on the three R’s.
KAB’s Waste In Place Three sample activities paired with fact sheets, recommended reading and activities for parents. Keep America Beautiful also offers comprehensive activity guides available for purchase from their online store.
Dem-Con’s Green Grades Videos by this Minnesota landfill company show how various components of residential and industrial waste are processed at the landfill so that they can be recycled into new materials. Lessons and activities are broken down into grades K-2, 3-5, and 6+.
Ranger Rick Educator’s Guides The National Wildlife Federation puts out monthly classroom guides for educators to use to teach from the children’s magazine Ranger Rick. Topics range from wildlife and habitat to trash and pollution.
Recycle Rosie Curriculum: Understanding the Waste Cycle This PDF curriculum contains six chapters that introduce the three R’s and encourage students to think critically about the environment-waste management relationship.
Can Manufacturers Institute Three separate curricula for grades 4-6, 6-9 and 9-12 that emphasize the importance of recycling and environmentally responsible behavior.
I Want to Be Recycled Educational game and fact sheets for grades 6-12 highlighting economic resource value and strategy of collecting and sorting recyclables.
United States Environmental Protection AgencyA vast array of lesson plans, games, quizzes, videos, projects, activities and community service ideas.
California Education and the Environment Initiative (EEI) More than 80 science and history-social science units that highlight environmental relationships and encourage critical thinking.
Teacher Vision Green activities, articles, slideshows and more, organized by grade level.
Education World This site offers links to more than 40 recycling activities and resources for various grade levels.
National Education Association Earth Day-themed lessons, projects, activities and games for grades K-5, 6-8 and 9-12.
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. and JASON Learning Posters, lesson plans and web-based experiences about recycling for grades K-4, 5-8 and 9-12.
Recycling Simplified Educational recycling videos, infographic posters and lesson plans for grades 1-5 and 6-12.
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