LANDFILLS

Landfills

Author(s):
Ashley Lahne

Grade Level:
4th Grade

Timeframe:
The lesson itself will spread across a week, but we will build a miniature landfill that will be looked at again after 6 months. The actual lesson each day will last for approximately one hour.

Lesson Description or Explanation
The students will be introduced to the concept of landfills. They will do research into what landfills are and their effects on the environment. The students will elect a board of peers to act as a governing body that will approve (or possibly disapprove) the building of a landfill for our research. The students will then construct their own landfill and dig it back up after six months to see what has happened to the materials. This is a lesson from a unit on environmental science.


Indiana Curricular Standards

English:
4.4.2 – Select a focus, an organizational structure, and a point of view based upon purpose, audience, length, and format requirements for a piece of writing.
4.7.12 Make informational presentations that:
• focus on one main topic.
• include facts and details that help listeners focus.
• incorporate more than one source of information (including speakers, books, newspapers, television broadcasts, radio reports, or Web sites). (Core Standard)

Science:
4.1.9 – Explain how some products and materials are easier to recycle than others.
4.2.5 – Write descriptions of investigations, using observations and other evidence as support for explanations.



ISTE Standards

Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes
using technology. Students:
a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression.
c. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.
d. identify trends and forecast possibilities.

Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students:
a. plan strategies to guide inquiry.
b. locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and
media.
c. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.
d. process data and report results.

Assessments

Formative/Summative

Formative – Each child will be given a journal to record their information on landfills and what they think will happen before anything is done. As each day goes by during the overall unit the students will take two minutes to write down any ideas or predictions they may have about what is happening with the landfill. The children will also be assessed upon their overall participation and ideas.


Summative – At the end of the unit the students will be given a test on the components of a landfill, the process of having a landfill approved, and other information that relates to the research we conduct.


Prior Knowledge

Curricular Knowledge or Skills:
The students are already familiar with some working of a governing board because many of the students are familiar with student council and from our research in children’s TIME magazine.
The students are familiar with conducting research and recording their notes in an orderly and organize fashion.
The students are familiar with the concept of recycling, but a landfill is another alternative that society has used. This will build on the prior knowledge for the children to know where their trash goes.
The students are already familiar with alternatives to recycling because we have already done a unit on compost gardens.

Technology Knowledge:
The students are familiar with the use of research on a computer.
The students are familiar with working with Microsoft Word to type up a proposal for submission to the governing board.


Technology

Internet Resources: (please list URLs)
www.google.com

Hardware:
Computers with Internet Access

Software:
Microsoft Office (Word, Publisher, and PowerPoint)

Materials:
A large flower pot or bucket (several feet wide)
Soil that is selected by the students
Plastic liners
Shovels
A watering pail
The same type of trash that was placed in our compost pile


Procedure

o Does anyone know what a landfill is? (Give a minute before answering if no one answers).
o A landfill is a low area of land that is built up from deposits of trash/waste in layers and covered with soil.
o On average American produce almost 5 pounds of trash every day per person which can generate to 251 million tons of trash produced in the United States alone. With this, trash production has almost tripled since 1960. Off this figure 55% of it is put into landfills. The amount of trash put into landfills has also doubled since 1960.
o There are two ways to bury trash, a dump & a landfill. Most people think of a dump as a landfill. A dump is an open hole in the ground where trash is buried and various animals swarm around it. While a landfill is a more carefully designed plan where the ground is covered with a protective bottom layer. Then filled with trash and covered with soil daily.
o There are two different types of landfills. The first is a Sanitary Landfill which uses a clay liner that keeps the trash away from the surrounding climate/environment. The second is a Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Landfill where a synthetic (plastic) liner is used to keep the trash from the surrounding environment/climate.
o The true purpose of a landfill is to bury the trash produced by a community to keep it from the environment and groundwater. The trash is supposed to be kept dry and away from contact with the air. Because of the air tightness and liners the trash does not decompose like it would if it were in a compost pile, which we know trash is SUPPOSED to decompose quickly.
o In order to create a landfill in a community, a landfill has to be proposed to the local government. That is where we come in. We are going to be conducting a landfill in a potted area by our compost garden. We first must appeal to the board of Landfill Professionals (which we will elect classmates to play the role) about why we want to make a landfill, and they must approve or deny our landfill proposal.
o After the proposal is submitted a test will be conducted which is called an environmental impact study. A group of scientists (more elected students) will need to determine: (1) the area of land necessary for the landfill, (2) the composition of the underlying soil and bedrock, (3) the flow of surface water over the site, (4) the impact of the proposed landfill on the local environment and wildlife, and (5) the historical or archaeological value of the proposed site.
o Once the site has been examined the scientists will present their findings to the class and see whether or not the land is suitable for the conditions of a landfill.
o Next plans need to be drawn up to see how the landfill will be constructed. There are many parts to a landfill. We will be researching them. Once the plans are drawn up it will be time to build the landfill. One thing to remember is that landfills are open every day for everyone.
o Landfills & the Environment: Research has shown that landfills do not allow trash to breakdown properly. One landfill contained a newspaper that was 40 years old and you could still read the print. Also, even after a landfill has been closed the groundwater has to be closely monitored for 30 years after the last piece of trash is placed in the landfill.
o There are two grading scales for landfills. One measures the soil properties for the landfill site. The ratings are (1) slight – site features are generally favorable for a landfill, (2) moderate – not favorable for landfill, and (3) severe – unsuitable for landfill. The second scale grades the soil that will be used to cover the landfill daily. The scale is: (1) good – suitable for daily cover, (2) fair – moderately favorable for daily cover, and (3) poor – should not be used for daily cover.
o Human Health: some research has shown such effects as (1) reduced height in children, (2) low birth weight and birth defects, (3) enlargement of the liver and abnormal function in the liver, and (4) dermatitis, (5) respiratory irritation, (6) neurologic symptoms, and (7) pancreatic cancer. This research came from California, Tennessee, and New York.
o Upon completion of the landfill, the products that are buried will be dug up at the end of the overall unit and the results will be discussed as to what happened.

Differentiated Instruction

ESL

To help include ESL students, and to also help them feel more involved in the classroom I will ask one of the ESL teachers to help me put together a vocabulary list of words so I could educate my ENTIRE class on what a landfill is and what the words are in different languages. I will also make sure to have specific information sent home with the students in their native language for their parents to understand what is going on in the classroom.

Challenge/Extend

Students will be elected by their peers for the various groups, or if the children decide they can break into groups and each group can do their own research and we can come together as a class and compare all of the research. To compare the research the students can hold a debate as a whole class to see which proposals they would approve.


Special Needs

If I have a child who is deaf I can use videos on landfills that I can insert subtitles into.
If I have a child who is visually impaired I will make sure to have the appropriate materials for them to use to supplement their education. I can make sure they are part of the governing board so they feel more included because they will be listening to a presentation from their peers.