My kids spent the morning yesterday learning about garbage. Really! We went on a field trip to the waste management centre with a group of local homeschoolers. They started off by having all the children sit at tables while the instructors went over a powerpoint presentation of waste management. During the presentation there were many opportunities for the children to raise their hands and participate in the discussion of the topic. As a parent it was fun to watch my children get involved and excitedly raise their hands waiting to be called on. My six year old mastered the raise hand-wave to get the instructor’s attention. Following the presentation all the participants went to the observation deck where we were able to see the recycled items being sorted, squished, and moved around by forklifts.
Then the children came inside to watch a six minute video on the recycling process. The instructor then brought out a lot of items and had the children guess as to whether they were supposed to be put in the garbage or the recycling bin. They then had the children split into different groups where they explored the life cycle of garbage. Each group was given a box with several items inside. The children had to sort the items into the order of their life cycle. My son’s group was given the life cycle of paper. They had wood, wood chips, pulp, paper, and a bale of used paper to be sent for recycling. Once the group had their items sorted they went in front and presented their life cycle to the group. My six year old loved the field trip so much he said he wanted to go there for his birthday! I guess smelly places can be fun too.
