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Science lesson plan · Kindergarten (Reception and Year 1 in England) · 45 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 · 5 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: giving outgrown clothes to a friend? (reduce / reuse / recycle) → reusePrompt: Reduce = use less. Reuse = use again. Recycle = make into something new.
  2. Which of these is a way to reduce? (using a jam jar to store pencils / giving outgrown clothes to a friend / sending old newspapers to be made into new paper / buying fruit without plastic wrapping) → buying fruit without plastic wrappingPrompt: 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? (Everyone uses their own refillable bottle. / Use a new cup for every sip. / Throw the cups away twice as fast. / Use bigger paper cups.) → Everyone uses their own refillable bottle.Prompt: Which choice means fewer cups are thrown away?

Hook · 5 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 · 10 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 · 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.
  1. 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.
  2. Which of these is a way to reuse? (turning off the tap while you brush your teeth / taking the same cloth bag to the shop each week / switching off lights when you leave a room / putting glass bottles in the bottle bank) → taking the same cloth bag to the shop each weekPrompt: Is the item used less, used again, or turned into something new?

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.
  1. Banana peel and apple cores can go in a compost bin. What happens to them? (They stay the same for ever. / They rot down into rich soil for plants. / They turn into plastic. / They turn into new bananas straight away.) → They rot down into rich soil for plants.Prompt: What do tiny living things like worms do to old food?
  2. Which of these is a way to recycle? (putting glass bottles in the bottle bank / using a jam jar to store pencils / turning off the tap while you brush your teeth / giving outgrown clothes to a friend) → putting glass bottles in the bottle bankPrompt: 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

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Reduce, reuse or recycle?

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    Which of these is a way to reduce?

    • A. sending old newspapers to be made into new paper
    • B. buying fruit without plastic wrapping
    • C. taking the same cloth bag to the shop each week
    • D. using a jam jar to store pencils

  2. Question 2

    Is this reducing, reusing or recycling: refilling a water bottle?

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

  3. Question 3

    Banana peel and apple cores can go in a compost bin. What happens to them?

    • A. They turn into plastic.
    • B. They stay the same for ever.
    • C. They turn into new bananas straight away.
    • D. They rot down into rich soil for plants.

  4. Question 4

    Which of these is a way to reuse?

    • A. buying fruit without plastic wrapping
    • B. taking the same cloth bag to the shop each week
    • C. sending old newspapers to be made into new paper
    • D. printing on both sides of the paper

  5. Question 5

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

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

  6. Question 6

    Which of these makes the LEAST rubbish?

    • A. a reusable lunchbox
    • B. single-use plastic cutlery
    • C. a new plastic bag every day
    • D. paper plates thrown away after lunch

  7. Question 7

    Which of these is a way to recycle?

    • A. putting empty cans in the recycling bin
    • B. buying fruit without plastic wrapping
    • C. refilling a water bottle
    • D. using a jam jar to store pencils

  8. Question 8

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

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

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Answer key: Reduce, reuse or recycle?

  1. 1. B. buying fruit without plastic wrapping

  2. 2. B. reuse

  3. 3. D. They rot down into rich soil for plants.

  4. 4. B. taking the same cloth bag to the shop each week

  5. 5. A. reduce

  6. 6. A. a reusable lunchbox

  7. 7. A. putting empty cans in the recycling bin

  8. 8. A. Everyone uses their own refillable bottle.