1.3: Sustainability - What happens to our waste?

• What and why children are learning

Sustainability, as defined by the Australian Curriculum “addresses the ongoing capacity of Earth to maintain all life”. Teaching sustainable patterns of living to our students gives them great responsibility that they are ensuring quality of life for their future and the future of those who come after them. Educating our students for sustainability, creates socially informed citizens who will work to maintain and improve the environment in which they live. Sustainability is one of the Cross-Curriculum priorities in the Australian Curriculum, meaning it can and should be integrated where possible.

 

Outcome two of The Early Years Learning Framework involves young people connecting and contributing to their world when educators include sustainability in their daily routines and discuss the impact humans can have on our natural environment.

• How they are learning

As our students are in Prep, they like to learn kinaesthetically, or hands-on. As a class we will do a walk around the school every afternoon for a week and pick up any rubbish, food scraps or waste we find. 

We will then bury different pieces of waste, including banana peel, muesli bar wrapper, plastic pop-top, a sock and a paper bag. As a class we will predict how long these items will take to break down. Each Monday afternoon we will dig up the items and record the results. After six weeks we will discuss why the banana is breaking down quicker than the sock, why the plastic pop-top has not changed at all and why the paper bag is starting to disintegrate. 

We have bins set up in the corridor near our school office and in our main courtyard where our students are able to sort waste correctly into paper, plastic, tin and glass. Our class also has a bucket outside our door where students put their food scraps, to go to the groundsmen’s compost bin. Our students will learn that these materials need to be separated and recycled correctly as they break down differently. Peppa Pig is a favourite cartoon of our class, therefore our students are able to watch this short video on Peppa Pig recycling:  

• How parents/carers can support their child’s learning

What we do models correct actions for our children, therefore it is a great responsibility for parents and carers to instil these sustainable ways of living into their children; our countries future. All parents and carers are urged to view the following video about waste and the importance of recycling http://www.coolaustralia.org/take-action/sustainability-in-your-class-all-you-need-to-know/3/.  Encourage children to create homemade birthday cards using items in the recycling bin. Use jars or containers to store crafts, toys and hair clips, or even as pot plants. 

Everyday practices such as these will teach children to conserve resources and think critically and creatively about whether an item really is rubbish.