• 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: putting empty cans in the recycling bin? (reduce / reuse / recycle) → recyclePrompt: Reduce = use less. Reuse = use again. Recycle = make into something new.
2. Which of these is a way to reduce? (taking the same cloth bag to the shop each week / refilling a water bottle / turning off the tap while you brush your teeth / putting empty cans in the recycling bin) → turning off the tap while you brush your teethPrompt: Is the item used less, used again, or turned into something new?
3. Why is it good to recycle plastic bottles? (Less rubbish goes to landfill and the plastic can be made into new things. / It makes more plastic in the sea. / Recycled plastic turns into food. / It makes the bottles heavier.) → Less rubbish goes to landfill and the plastic can be made into new things.Prompt: Where does rubbish go if it is not recycled?

• Show a food web and ask what would happen if one animal disappeared.
• Share the objective: Actions that help or harm the environment. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Does this help or harm the environment: picking all the wild flowers in a meadow?
• Step 1: These actions waste resources or hurt living things.
• Step 2: So the answer is: harms
• Answer: harms
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Does this help or harm the environment: leaving lights on all night in empty rooms? (helps / harms) → harmsPrompt: Would animals, plants, water or air be better off or worse off?
2. Bees are visiting fewer gardens. How can a school help? (Plant flowers that bees like. / Cover the garden in concrete. / Spray the flowers with paint. / Cut down all the flowers.) → Plant flowers that bees like.Prompt: What do bees feed on?

• 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.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Turtles in the sea can get tangled in plastic bags. What is the best way to help? (Use cloth bags and put rubbish in a bin. / Leave plastic bags on the beach. / Throw more bags into the sea. / Paint the turtles.) → Use cloth bags and put rubbish in a bin.Prompt: How could we stop plastic reaching the sea?
2. True or false? Saving water helps the environment. (True / False) → TruePrompt: Think about animals, plants, water and air.

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