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Science lesson plan · Kindergarten (Reception and Year 1 in England) · 30 minutes

Sort waste into the right recycling group

Ecosystems and food chains

CCSS NGSS.K-ESS3-3England: EYFS Understanding the World: The natural worldEngland: KS1 Y1 Everyday materials

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Sort waste into the right recycling group.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Reduce, reuse or recycle?

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

Materials: Food web cards, Arrows to build chains, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 4 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Reduce, reuse or recycle?). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Is this reducing, reusing or recycling: switching off lights when you leave a room? (reduce / reuse / recycle) → reducePrompt: Reduce = use less. Reuse = use again. Recycle = make into something new.
  2. Which of these is a way to recycle? (giving outgrown clothes to a friend / buying fruit without plastic wrapping / using a jam jar to store pencils / putting empty cans in the recycling bin) → putting empty cans in the recycling binPrompt: Is the item used less, used again, or turned into something new?
  3. Banana peel and apple cores can go in a compost bin. What happens to them? (They turn into plastic. / They rot down into rich soil for plants. / They turn into new bananas straight away. / They stay the same for ever.) → They rot down into rich soil for plants.Prompt: What do tiny living things like worms do to old food?

Hook · 3 min

  • Show a food web and ask what would happen if one animal disappeared.
  • Share the objective: Sort waste into the right recycling group. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 7 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Which recycling group should this go in: a used envelope?
  • Step 1: Paper and card can be pulped and made into new paper.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: paper and card
  • Answer: paper and card
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 6 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Which recycling group should this go in: banana peel? (paper and card / glass / metal / food waste (compost)) → food waste (compost)Prompt: What material is it made of?
  2. Three of these go in the glass group. Which one does NOT? (an empty jam jar / a glass milk bottle / a glass sauce bottle / a clean foil tray) → a clean foil trayPrompt: Name the material of each thing.

You do: independent practice · 7 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 3 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. True or false? Once something is recycled it can never be used again. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Think about what each thing is made of.
  2. Three of these go in the glass group. Which one does NOT? (a used envelope / a glass sauce bottle / an empty jam jar / a glass milk bottle) → a used envelopePrompt: Name the material of each thing.

Watch out for

  • Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
  • Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Reduce, reuse or recycle?.
  • Use concrete materials: food web cards.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/kindergarten.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Sort waste into the right recycling group

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    Three of these go in the paper and card group. Which one does NOT?

    • A. a used envelope
    • B. a cereal box
    • C. a soup tin (can)
    • D. a cardboard egg box

  2. Question 2

    True or false? Cans should be rinsed before recycling.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  3. Question 3

    Which recycling group should this go in: a glass milk bottle?

    • A. paper and card
    • B. glass
    • C. metal
    • D. food waste (compost)

  4. Question 4

    Three of these go in the food waste (compost) group. Which one does NOT?

    • A. banana peel
    • B. carrot tops
    • C. apple core
    • D. a cardboard egg box

  5. Question 5

    True or false? Glass jars can be melted and made into new jars.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  6. Question 6

    Which recycling group should this go in: a used envelope?

    • A. paper and card
    • B. glass
    • C. metal
    • D. food waste (compost)

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Answer key: Sort waste into the right recycling group

  1. 1. C. a soup tin (can)

  2. 2. A. True

  3. 3. B. glass

  4. 4. D. a cardboard egg box

  5. 5. A. True

  6. 6. A. paper and card