Back to the lesson plan builder
Lesson length30 min45 min60 min
Questions🔀 New questions

Print the plan for yourself; the student sheet prints on its own page after it.

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

Reduce, reuse or recycle?

Ecosystems and food chains

CCSS NGSS.K-ESS3-3England: EYFS Understanding the World: The natural worldEngland: KS1 Y2 Uses of everyday materials

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Reduce, reuse or recycle?.

  • 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: no earlier skill in the map; start from what students know.

Leads to: Sort waste into the right recycling group; Actions that help or harm the environment

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: three short questions students should already manage. Answers on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Is this reducing, reusing or recycling: printing on both sides of the paper? (reduce / reuse / recycle) → reducePrompt: Reduce = use less. Reuse = use again. Recycle = make into something new.
  2. Which of these is a way to reduce? (turning off the tap while you brush your teeth / putting glass bottles in the bottle bank / taking the same cloth bag to the shop each week / sending old newspapers to be made into new paper) → turning off the tap while you brush your teethPrompt: Is the item used less, used again, or turned into something new?
  3. A class drinks from paper cups and throws them away every day. Which change makes the biggest difference? (Use bigger paper cups. / Everyone uses their own refillable bottle. / Use a new cup for every sip. / Throw the cups away twice as fast.) → Everyone uses their own refillable bottle.Prompt: Which choice means fewer cups are thrown away?

Hook · 3 min

  • Show a food web and ask what would happen if one animal disappeared.
  • Share the objective: Reduce, reuse or recycle?. 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: Is this reducing, reusing or recycling: using a jam jar to store pencils?
  • Step 1: Reuse means using something again instead of throwing it away.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: reuse
  • Answer: reuse
  • 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. Is this reducing, reusing or recycling: turning off the tap while you brush your teeth? (reduce / reuse / recycle) → reducePrompt: Reduce = use less. Reuse = use again. Recycle = make into something new.
  2. Which of these is a way to reuse? (using a jam jar to store pencils / sending old newspapers to be made into new paper / switching off lights when you leave a room / turning off the tap while you brush your teeth) → using a jam jar to store pencilsPrompt: Is the item used less, used again, or turned into something new?

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. Is this reducing, reusing or recycling: sending old newspapers to be made into new paper? (reduce / reuse / recycle) → recyclePrompt: Reduce = use less. Reuse = use again. Recycle = make into something new.
  2. Which of these is a way to reuse? (turning off the tap while you brush your teeth / putting empty cans in the recycling bin / putting glass bottles in the bottle bank / giving outgrown clothes to a friend) → giving outgrown clothes to a friendPrompt: Is the item used less, used again, or turned into something new?

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

  • 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

  • Move on to: Sort waste into the right recycling group; Actions that help or harm the environment.
  • 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

eurekami

Reduce, reuse or recycle?

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    Which of these is a way to reduce?

    • A. putting empty cans in the recycling bin
    • B. refilling a water bottle
    • C. printing on both sides of the paper
    • D. putting glass bottles in the bottle bank

  2. Question 2

    A class drinks from paper cups and throws them away every day. Which change makes the biggest difference?

    • A. Use a new cup for every sip.
    • B. Use bigger paper cups.
    • C. Everyone uses their own refillable bottle.
    • D. Throw the cups away twice as fast.

  3. Question 3

    Is this reducing, reusing or recycling: sending old newspapers to be made into new paper?

    • A. reduce
    • B. reuse
    • C. recycle

  4. Question 4

    Which of these is a way to reuse?

    • A. putting glass bottles in the bottle bank
    • B. refilling a water bottle
    • C. turning off the tap while you brush your teeth
    • D. putting empty cans in the recycling bin

  5. Question 5

    Why is it good to recycle plastic bottles?

    • A. It makes more plastic in the sea.
    • B. Less rubbish goes to landfill and the plastic can be made into new things.
    • C. It makes the bottles heavier.
    • D. Recycled plastic turns into food.

  6. Question 6

    Is this reducing, reusing or recycling: turning off the tap while you brush your teeth?

    • A. reduce
    • B. reuse
    • C. recycle

Free from eurekami.com

for the adult only

Answer key: Reduce, reuse or recycle?

  1. 1. C. printing on both sides of the paper

  2. 2. C. Everyone uses their own refillable bottle.

  3. 3. C. recycle

  4. 4. B. refilling a water bottle

  5. 5. B. Less rubbish goes to landfill and the plastic can be made into new things.

  6. 6. A. reduce