Schools
 
Waste and Litter Minimisation
A Footprints Project

 

Return to Top Background 

Please be informed that the following materials were borrowed from http://www.ecorecycle.vic.gov.au/ . Please acknowledge this fact to facilitate intellectual property rights .
During 1996, VCE resources were produced for EcoRecycle Victoria as the first stage of the Footprints Project, (in which 'footprints' refers to the need 'to leave a lighter footprint' - this is an internationally recognised metaphor for reducing our environmental impact).  

The subjects involved were English and a number of languages . The LOTE resources were forwarded to schools teaching these subjects at the time (1997).  The resources were based on the LOTE VCE Work Requirements 3 and 4. They built on the idea of using the language to communicate certain messages with waste and litter minimisation themes.  During 1997, the program was extended to include complementary resources to be used at more junior levels of the school,  in a number of languages other than English as well as other Key Learning Areas. 

 

Return to Top More on these LOTE resources 

These activities are intended for classes of students in the upper primary school or at the junior secondary level . They could be used in a class of mixed levels as long as activities appropriate to the level are chosen. The activities can be modified to suit the students. It is envisaged that topics will take four to five weeks of class teaching time, depending on factors such as the age of the students in the target language.  

The writers who produced the materials were given a choice of the following starting points:  

  • seasons and waste 
  • festivals, gifts and waste 
  • shopping and waste. 
For those teachers who are interested in following up all these suggestions for classroom activities, three tables are provided on this website detailing these themes and listing:  
  • text types, 
  • activities clusters, 
  • learning outcomes, 
  • assessment ideas, 
  • language focus, and 
  • possible resources. 
flower These activity themes provide examples of alternative activities which may be adapted to form an activity cluster. It is not intended that all the activities included here should be systematically used. These tables focus on waste and litter minimisation and are presented as a series of suggestions only. They will not necessarily suit all groups of level 2 or level 3 students. When selecting or writing activities for their own activity clusters, teachers should consider the needs, interests and backgrounds of the students in the target language.  

This environmental emphasis provides some unusual opportunities for language teachers. Apart from the linguistic requirements of the topics there is an opportunity to relate these studies to similar themes in the other Key Learning Areas of English, Studies of Society and Environment, Health and Physical Education, and Technology.  

Special teacher support material for these KLAs has been prepared with similar themes. These are available on this website or from EcoRecycle Victoria. Teachers are encouraged to develop integrated approaches with the other teachers in the year levels concerned.  
 

Return to Top Teaching and learning objectives 
including detail on the codes used in the Activity Charts 
(The material in this table is based on the work of Evol Byron of the Victorian School of Languages)  
Listening and speaking (LOLS) Learning outcomes
  At the completion of level 2, a student will be able to:  

LOLS 2.1 engage in real or simulated conversations and everyday transactions in familiar situations through imitating and adapting models  

LOLS 2.2 participate in performance, paying attention to rhythm and intonation appropriate to the target language  

LOLS 2.3 demonstrate, verbally and non-verbally, understanding of the main ideas in messages and other texts presented orally  

LOLS 2.4 identify and imitate culturally appropriate language and gesture

 At the completion of level 3, a student will be able to:  

LOLS 3.1 interact with family friends and known adults in familiar situations, some of which are rehearsed and others prepared but not completely predictable.  

LOLS 3.2 use some communication strategies to maintain oral interaction in culturally appropriate ways.  

LOLS 3.3 express preferences and plan activities using simple structures and routines  

LOLS 3.4 participate in story telling and performances of poems, songs and sketches for enjoyment and to entertain others, paying attention to pronunciation, intonation and phrasing  

LOLS 3.5 listen for specified items of information and use this in information in an activity  

LOLS 3.6 display knowledge of the social and cultural context of familiar situations
Reading (LOR) Learning outcomes
  At the completion of level 2, a student will be able to:  

LOR 2.1 read short passages of familiar and well rehearsed material silently and aloud for enjoyment and entertainment  

LOR 2.2 demonstrate understanding of the main ideas read through verbal and non verbal means such as identifying a picture of a character or event, providing a caption, retelling the story or passing on several items of information  

LOR 2.3 identify the main message in a text and use this information in an activity

 At the completion of level 3, a student will be able to:  

LOR 3.1 read short passages of familiar material silently and aloud for enjoyment and to entertain others  

LOR 3.2 demonstrate understandings of short texts by presenting dramatised readings which produce the desired effect on an audience through suitable pronunciation, intonation and phrasing  

LOR 3.3 identify the main linguistic and cultural features of such familiar text types as letters and greeting cards  

LOR 3.4 read familiar texts and some graphic material to find and pass on through speech or writing, words and phrases giving specified information  

LOR 3.5 identify socially and culturally important features of texts read
Writing (LOW) Learning outcomes
  At the completion of level 2, a student will be able to:  

LOW 2.1 imitate and adapt models and use other forms of support such as group writing to retell familiar stories and poems and write new ones  

LOW 2.2 write, with assistance, the equivalent of at least two or three related sentences about familiar topics such as those related to the home, family and learner interests  

LOW 2.3 record information heard or read by such means as identifying and copying words and phrases or filling in a skeleton outline 

 At the completion of level 3, a student will be able to:  

LOW 3.1 contribute to group writing activities and independently write short texts of a few linked sentences based on known language and familiar situations  

LOW 3.2 adapt models imaginatively to write new culturally appropriate versions of familiar text types such as stories, sketches, postcards and letters  

LOW 3.3 identify and record the main points from information heard or read when supported by such means as a skeleton outline or a summary sheet with headings  

LOW 3.4 complete simple graphics such as maps, diagrams and timetables with information provided

 

Return to Top Activity Charts 

  • Go to the Shopping and Waste Activity Chart 
  • Go to the Seasons and Waste Activity Chart 
  • Go to the Festivals and Waste Activity Chart 

 

Return to Top Activity Chart - Shopping and Waste  

CSF Level 2,3 THEME: Shopping and waste
SUGGESTED TIME: - Minimum of 2 weeks
LANGUAGE: These teaching suggestions are being used as the starting point for language specific teacher support material .

Text types Activities Learning outcomes (CSF Strands) Assessment ideas Language focus Possible Resources
List 1. Students discuss and with the help of posters, cue cards and the food pyramid, identify items bought weekly.     Nouns, singular and plural. 
Adjectives of colour, size and shape. 
Comparatives. 
Interrogative adverbs. 
Simple formulaic questions and answers. 
Preferring statements. 
Descriptive statements and statements of composition.		 Shopping lists 
Supermarket dockets
Chart 2. After researching the shopping list of their families, students, in mixed ability groups, construct a chart listing usual purchases and the shops or other places where these purchases were made. 
E.g. Milk - supermarket 
Fruit - Vegetable market 
Bread - Hot bread shop		 LOW 2.3 
LOW 3.3 
LOW 3.4
List 3. Students then add another column to list the container or packaging for these items. 
E.g. cardboard box, plastic bucket, cellophane wrapper, ... 
Include a note about the carry bags used for each shopping location 
E.g. string bags or plastic bags which are used to carry the items.
Return to Top of Chart
Questionnaire 4. Some students create a questionnaire regarding shopping habits for others in the class to fill out LOLS 2.3 
LOLS 3.3
Sample questionnaire format
Discussion - brainstorm 5. Students read out types of packaging and with the aid of pamphlets discuss how packaging could be minimised in shopping; i.e. how plastic wrapping, including bags, boxes, cans, bottles and so on could be reduced. In pairs, students:
Students are assessed according to the letter format, number of items described and the number of language lexical items.
Reduce waste pamphlets
Letter
  • with the help of a skeleton letter, write a letter to the language newspaper about this issue;
    		•
    Chart
  • or write a wallchart for the other classes or the Health and Home Economics Department about ways to reduce packaging waste;
    		•
    		Return to Top of Chart
    Audio tape
  • or prepare an short audio tape for broadcasting a message over the (LOTE) radio station
    		•
    		Sample tape recordings of radio advertisements.
    Advertisement 6. Students watch out for radio or television or letterbox advertising and list the items advertised and the packaging used. Prepare a poster or other advertisement regarding shopping and packaging and how to reduce waste. LOW 3.4
    		Samples of letterbox advertisements
    Roleplay 7. Students, with the help of cue cards, roleplay asking neighbours and friends about waste created through shopping and how waste can be reduced. LOLS 2.1 
    LOLS 3.1 
    LOLS 3.4 
    LOLS 3.5
    		Return to Top of Chart
    Interview Audio tape 8. Students listen to an interview, or read a transcript of an interview with an elderly person about wasting nothing, and fill in missing questions or responses or missing words. LOLS 2.3 
    LOLS 3.5 
    LOW 2.3
    		Stories/book excerpts about shopping in older times and in the countries of the language
    		9. Students, according to a skeleton proforma, interview an elderly relative, (e.g. grandmother and/or grandfather) asking him/her of changes in habits of shopping. Tape this interview. LOLS 2.1 
    LOLS 3.1 
    LOLS 3.5    		 Students are assessed on a number of listed items - the ability to commence, and close the interview, interact during the interview, pronunciation, ability to ask linking questions.
    Poster 10. Students write up notes for a group poster for school based on discussions with much older persons (e.g. grandparents) of shopping at a time when these people were their age. Include information about the type of packaging used then. LOW 2.2 
    LOW 3.3    		 Peer assessment on relevance of information appropriate to the audience, variety of expression and accuracy of information.
    		Return to Top of Chart

     

    Return to Top Activity Chart - Seasons and Waste  
    CSF Level 2,3 THEME: Seasons and waste
    SUGGESTED TIME: - Minimum of 2 weeks
    LANGUAGE: These teaching suggestions are being used as the starting point for language specific teacher support material .
     
    Text types Activities Learning outcomes (CSF Strands) Assessment ideas Language focus Possible Resources
      SUMMER
    Survey 1. Prepare a survey about favourite drinks in the hot months of the year.     Informal Pronouns 
    Verbs - regular 
    Present tense 
    Second person and third person singular 
    Interrogative 
    Word order 
    Affirmative structures    		 Summer vocabulary. 

    Drink advertisements from magazines or papers
    Interview 2. Students interview each other about their drink preferences.    
    Interview 3. After interviews, students prepare a table for the survey which lists the drink, the number of people who choose the drink, and the packaging for this drink (can, carton, bottle, water from the tap into a glass etc.)    
    Discussion Table 4. Class discussion on recycling. Students include in their table information about what happens to the container. Is it waste or recycled? How is it recycled? LOLS 2.3 
    LOLS 3.5 
    LOLS 2.3 
    LOLS 3.5    		 Teachers assess students' ability to pose questions, accuracy of word order, pronunciation and stress placement.    
    Poster 5. Students create a poster encouraging students to use drinks which do not use packaging, or if they do, to recycle the packages. LOW 2.1 
    LOW 3.1    		 Teachers assess students' ability to adapt several pieces of information to a new affirmative form with accurate word order.   Return to Top of Chart
      AUTUMN
    Discussion 1. Class discussion and readings about autumn. LOR 2.1 
    LOR 2.2 
    LOR 3.2    		   Articles 
    Conjunctions 
    Formal structures 
    Present tense 
    Present continuous 
    First person plural 
    Modal verbs 
    Means of linking sentences    		 Autumn vocabulary
      2. Students listen to poems and sing songs about autumn    
    		Songs, poems
    Discussion 3. Discussion about deciduous trees, annuals, vegetable matter and litter and waste in parks and gardens.  LOLS 2.2 
    LOLS 3.4 

    LOLS 2.4 
    LOLS 3.4 
    LOLS 2.3 
    LOLS 3.5

    		  
    		 
    Interviews 4. Ask family, other relatives, neighbours about what happens to this waste. Is it wasted or used again? This can be taped.
    		Peer assessment on appropriate vocabulary for questioning, linking with interviewee, number of items of information, pronunciation. Teacher assessment to the same criteria.
    		 
    Summary 5. Students, with the help of the teacher, prepare a summary of their discussion and expand this for the school newspaper. LOW 3.3
    		   
    Pamphlet 6. After research about compost in the library - prepare a pamphlet explaining how to compost, with drawings and labels. LOW 2.2 
    LOW 3.2 
    LOW 3.4    		 Teachers assess for ability to adapt information and construct a pamphlet matching illustrations to labels and the use of conjunctions and conveying information in a variety of ways.   Compost pamphlets 

    Local Council letters about household scraps or garden waste and recycling 

    Flow charts
    Letter 7. Write a letter to the school canteen and cookery departments asking the people in charge to organise a compost for the waste. 
    Or Students write a letter using a skeleton outline to the school council about a composting program for the school.    		 LOW 3.3 Teachers assess for accurate use of the formal register, ability to use modal verbs, use of the third person plural and linked sentences using appropriate linguistic features.   Return to Top of Chart
      WINTER
    Brainstorm - Discussion 1. Students brainstorm, then list examples of 'Take away hot meals' 
    For example:  
  • fast food 
  • convenience (precooked) food from the supermarket 
  • fish and chips, and so on.
    		•  LOLS 2.1 
    LOLS 2.3 
    LOLS 3.1 
    LOLS 3.5    		   Formal and informal pronouns 
    Nouns singular and plural 
    Interrogative 
    Imperative 
    Word order 
    Adjective and comparative    		 Winter vocabulary 
    Sample fast food menus 
    Advertisements of fast foods
    List 2. Students, in mixed ability groups, after looking at labels and advertisements, and their lists (1 above) also list the packaging for each food or type of food.        
    Discussion -brainstorm 3. Students, in the same group, brainstorm what happens to the packages after use. Is it waste or used again and/or recycled? LOLS 2.3 
    LOLS 3.5    		      
    Label 4. Students create a design for packaging one of these foods which minimises waste. Use labels to identify the food and the packaging material. LOW 3.4 Students are assessed first by peer groups according to discussed criteria (eg. descriptions of food type, correct labelling) and then by the teacher.    
    Menu 5. Students write a menu (not the recipes) for a hot meal in which there is no waste created. LOW 2.2 
    LOW 3.2    		 Teachers assess according to accuracy of nouns, adjectives and appropriateness of discourse forms.   Return to Top of Chart
      SPRING
      1. Students listen to and read poems, stories and songs about spring. LOR 2.1 
    LOR 3.2    		     Spring vocabulary 
    Graphs of waste collected throughout the year by Councils showing an increase in Spring 
    Stories/books describing spring
    Diary 2. Students, according to a skeleton diary page, keep a diary of the changes day by day during this growing season. 

    Students read out a page of the diary to the class.

    		 LOW 2.2 
    LOW 3.2    		 Teachers assess diaries for imitation of the diary form, adapting the model through a variety of linguistic forms, the amount of information conveyed, agreement of adjectives and adverbs, cause and effect conjunctions. Teachers assess students on information conveyed, pronunciation, intonation culturally appropriate language and gesture. Modifiers 
    Infinitives 
    Adverbs of time manner, place Case, result conjuctions 
    Formulaic expressions
      3. Observe the changing patterns of waste from house/gardens or from neighbours or the neighbourhood or from the school garden.      
    Poster - chart 4. Create a poster or chart showing the garden wastes which occur in spring (e.g. lawn clippings) and the possible uses for this waste. (Refer to the compost program undertaken during the study of autumn)  LOW 2.3 
    LOW 3.3 
    LOW 3.4    		 Teachers assess posters according to ability to list uses and convey information succinctly - with connected order and appropriate conjunctions.    
    Discussion 5. Class discussion on 'spring cleaning'. What happens in homes at this time? What happens to the waste that is created by this cleaning period? LOS 2.3 
    LOS 3.5    		      
      6. Students read an (imaginary?) letter/story from grandmother or a relative overseas describing their spring cleaning LOR 2.2 
    LOR 3.2 
    LOS 2.3 
    LOS 3.5    		 Teachers assess students for accuracy of pronunciation, clarity and fluency, and understanding the issues involved in waste minimisation   Return to Top of Chart
     

     

    Return to Top Activity Chart - Festivals, Gifts and Waste  
    CSF Level 2,3 THEME: Festivals, gifts and waste
    SUGGESTED TIME: - Minimum of 2 weeks
    LANGUAGE: These teaching suggestions are being used as the starting point for language .
     
    Text types Activities Learning outcomes (CSF Strands) Assessment ideas Language focus Possible Resources
    Discussion 1. Class or groups of students choose a festival during which gifts are exchanged. The Festivals, its aspects and gifts are discussed in conjunction with visuals and vocabulary lists are drafted. LOLS 2.1 
    LOLS 2.3 
    LOLS 3.1 
    LOLS 3.5    		   Compound nouns 
    Adjectives 
    Superlatives 
    Objects indirect 
    Relative pronouns 
    Imperatives 
    Past tense - first person singular    		 Home photos 
    Magazine photos 
    Home video
    Cloze text 2. Students listen to a song, to a poem or view a video relating to the festival and fill in a cloze text. LOLS 2.3 
    LOLS 3.5    		  
    		Tapes, Videos. Poems Cloze text
    Wall story 3. Students write a wall story on what happens in their family during the chosen festival. (Each student contributes a sentence) Students add photos and label these photos - names, gifts, wrappings and so on. LOW 2.2 
    LOW 3.2 
    LOW 3.3    		 Teachers assess students according to aptness of labelling, coherency, accuracy of word order, descriptive statements, level of difficulty of vocabulary items.   Return to Top of Chart
    Captions 4. Students who have a home video of a festive occasion. Write an accompanying short written explanation which describes what is happening, pointing out the gifts, and note the litter that is being created. LOLS 2.3 
    LOLS 3.2 
    LOW 3.3    		 Peers assess students according to criteria matching description to photo, setting the scene and elaboration and clarification of scene, and communicative strategies. Teachers assesses according to the same criteria.    
    Discussion - brainstorm 5. In groups students brainstorm all the activities which take place during this festival time. The activities may take place in the family home, in the church or mosque or other community place. LOLS 2.3 
    LOLS 3.5 
    LOLS 3.6    		     Pamphlets from EcoRecycle Victoria, local Council, Litter Recycling and Research Association, Environment Protection Authority, Melbourne Water
    List 6. Each group lists all the litter that is created during the chosen festival. Read a simple account of a festival during which litter is created and what happens afterwards. Each group writes down ideas onto a wall chart for the class to look at.       Stories from festivals 
    Stories from the past.
    Wall chart 7. Students imagine a gift which will never become waste and create an example or draw a diagram of this gift with a short description attached. LOW 2.3 
    LOW 3.2 
    LOW 3.4    		 Teachers assess according to ability to convey information, originality, uses of conjunctions, relative pronouns, variety of sentence beginnings.   Sample drawing of a gift made from used materials
    Illustration Description 8. Students, in pairs, read out the instructions to their partner who draws the gift described. LOR 2.2 
    LOR 3.2    		     Return to Top of Chart
    Interview 
    Discussion 
    Questionnaire    		 9. Students locate an older person - perhaps one of your grandparents or an older neighbour - and talk to them about gifts they used to receive when they were young. According to a sample questionnaire drawn up in the class, question them on the types of gifts they received and which were made out of old or used materials. LOLS 2.3 
    LOLS 2.4 
    LOLS 3.1 
    LOLS 3.5 
    LOLS 3.6    		 Teachers assess according to ability to question using a variety of interrogatives, interjections and ability to demonstrate comprehension via extension of questions.    
    List 10. Students list the steps or instructions which are needed to make this gift. 
    E.g. A doll made out of old clothing. A bat carved out of wood.    		 LOW 2.2 
    LOW 3.2 
    LOW 3.4    		 Teachers assess according to ability to convey information, accurate use of third person agreements, coordinating conjunctions.    
      11. In mixed ability groups, students participate in a bingo game or domino game created by teacher or advanced students. Include a festival event/ activity, particularly referring to the litter and waste created.       Bingo game 
    Domino game
    Return to Top of Chart
      WASTEWISE