Science lesson plan · Kindergarten (Reception and Year 1 in England) · 45 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 · 5 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.
- Is this reducing, reusing or recycling: putting glass bottles in the bottle bank? (reduce / reuse / recycle) → recyclePrompt: Reduce = use less. Reuse = use again. Recycle = make into something new.
- Which of these is a way to reduce? (switching off lights when you leave a room / taking the same cloth bag to the shop each week / using a jam jar to store pencils / giving outgrown clothes to a friend) → switching off lights when you leave a roomPrompt: Is the item used less, used again, or turned into something new?
- Which of these makes the LEAST rubbish? (a new plastic bag every day / paper plates thrown away after lunch / a reusable lunchbox / single-use plastic cutlery) → a reusable lunchboxPrompt: Which one can be used again and again?
Hook · 5 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 · 10 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 · 10 min
- Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
- Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
- Which recycling group should this go in: carrot tops? (paper and card / glass / metal / food waste (compost)) → food waste (compost)Prompt: What material is it made of?
- Three of these go in the paper and card group. Which one does NOT? (an empty jam jar / a cereal box / a used envelope / a cardboard egg box) → an empty jam jarPrompt: Name the material of each thing.
You do: independent practice · 10 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 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.
Exit ticket · 5 min
- Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
- Three of these go in the glass group. Which one does NOT? (a glass sauce bottle / an empty jam jar / a glass milk bottle / eggshells) → eggshellsPrompt: Name the material of each thing.
- Which recycling group should this go in: a cereal box? (paper and card / glass / metal / food waste (compost)) → paper and cardPrompt: What material is it made of?
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