Practicing sustainable environmental education through the creation of recycled products
Special needs Education school Attached to Faculty of Education, Kagoshima University
Elementary School Division / Middle School Division / High School Division
Background and objectives of activities
Students are engaging in activities to clean and organize their surroundings on a daily basis. In such activities, they often dispose of unneeded items in garbage bins, etc., and some of them have already established the practice of sorting and discarding items based on their daily life experiences. However, there are cases in which students do not fully understand how the unwanted things they throw away are disposed of and why they need to be sorted and thrown away. Therefore, by practicing learning activities in which students focus on the unwanted things they throw away in their daily lives and investigate and think about how they are thrown away and how they affect the environment, they can develop a sense of caring for the nature around them and learn how to recycle and use the "things to throw away" that are around them. By recycling and using "things that are no longer used = things to be thrown away", the goal is to change the perception of "things that are no longer used = things to be thrown away" to the realization that things that are no longer used can become useful in daily life if they are devised, and to develop an attitude of trying to find things around us that can be recycled.
Summary of Activities
The elementary school students will conduct the "Let's Explore the Area Around the School" life-unit study. In addition to making a map of the local area around them and cleaning up the Kotsuki River and suburbs, students also learn about the environment at the Kagoshima Museum of Environment.
Junior High School: In the "Handmade Postcards" work study, students recycle milk cartons to make products. In addition, students go to the nearby Kotsukigawa River as part of their Life Unit Study, notice trash, investigate its impact on the environment, and summarize and present what they have learned.
High School: In the "Us and the Environment" unit, students look for recycling symbols on familiar objects and investigate the meaning of the symbols. On a field trip, students learn how to dispose of household waste and the rules of the landfill. Shredder waste is wrapped in non-woven fabric and "oil-absorbing packs" are made into products and sold to parents in the "Making oil-absorbing packs from shredder waste" work study.
Expected Benefits
Through thinking about waste reduction and effective use of resources, and continuing with activities they can do, students will aim to become aware of their role as a member of a society that maintains sustainability. In particular, the middle school and high school students will increase their awareness and motivation by actually making recycled products using garbage as a resource. In addition, the impact on the staff involved in the production and the parents who purchase the products will be significant, contributing to raising awareness of waste reduction and other issues.