Are you talking to your students and other people about the amount of solid waste produced in your community? If you are, then you are probably talking about tons. But how much is a ton in terms that you can understand? In this Aurora Activity you will collect throw-away items, weigh the items, and collect enough to make a pound. Then you will determine how many it takes to make a ton by making a team drawing. Finally, you will use weight comparisons and fun facts to compare the possible amounts of solid waste in various locations, based on community population.
How many pounds are in a ton?
How many aluminum cans make one pound?
How many aluminum cans are in a ton?
Describing a Ton - The learners will demonstrate that they can interpret the data gathered while doing an investigation, in order to describe in their own terms what a ton is.
Creating a Fact Sheet - The learners will interpret the data gathered, share information based on their community population with learners in other locations, and create fun facts about solid waste.
Identifying How Many - The learner will collect, organize and record data while using a balance scale and common throw-away items to investigate and identify how many it would take to make a pound and a ton.
Poster Board
Each group will need one large piece of poster board, markers or crayons.
Scales to Measure Weight in Ounces
Balance scales with ounce weights work well with elementary students.
Throw-Away Items Collected from Home
paper grocery sacks, aluminum cans, 20 oz. plastic pop bottles, plastic grocery sacks, cardboard rolls from paper towels, aluminum foil, and plastic wrap or waxed paper
Waste Weight Comparisons
What is a Ton?
The teams of learners will answer a series of questions to determine successful completion of this activity. Turn this completed Rubric in to your teacher when completed.
Wastes
This web site is the home page for the Office of Solid Waste (OSW), which regulates waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); the OSW is part of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. The web site has information about waste and links to other resources.
Gather from home the throw-away items listed in the attached note.
Discuss with your assigned group members how much they think a ton is.Discuss that if a ton is 2000 pounds, then what is a pound? Gather the throw-away items to which your group has been assigned to work.
A. In your group, predict how much one of your throw-away items weighs. Predict how many it would take to make a pound.
B. Record your group predictions.
C. Use a scale to weigh your item to test your predictions. Place the ounce weight on one side of the balance scale. Keep adding items to the other side of the balance scale until it balances with the ounce weight. Record your results.
D. Make a group drawing to show how many of your items it takes to make a pound. Use a poster board or a large piece of construction paper. Label your group drawing.
E. Using the other side of the poster board, make a visual presentation with your group, showing how many of your items it would take to make a ton. Make your drawing so it clearly shows how much a ton is. Label your group drawing.
A. Create a Fun Fact Sheet to share information with other communities by using weight comparisons.
B. Research in your library or on the internet to find how much an average full-grown elephant weighs. Record this weight.
C. A URL to find this information is EnchantedLearning.Com
D. Weigh one aluminum can. How many aluminum cans does it take to make one pound? Record this number.
E. Multiply the weight of an elephant in pounds by the number of aluminum cans in a pound. This will tell you the number of thrown away aluminum cans it would take to equal one elephant.
F. Find out the number of people in your community (population). Multiply by 365 (number of days in a year). Record this product.
G. Take the product and divide it by the number of aluminum cans equal to one elephant.
H. Now you are ready to fill out the Fun Fact Sheet found below.
The list of throw-away items to collect should be sent home at least one week before this activity. When I make the list of throw-away items, I ask for items that we will need for various experiments or projects throughout the year. I definitely wanted aluminum cans because we recycle them. That is why I chose aluminum cans for the Fun Fact Sheet. Using the provided URL will ensure that all participants will find the same information on the weight of a full grown elephant. This URL revealed that an elephant's weight is 6 tons. The same process could be used for discussing million or billion.
Two 30-minute periods
When collecting throw-away items from your trash at home, be careful. Wear a pair of plastic gloves or washable gloves to protect your hands from cuts and germs. When you take your throw-away item list home, put it on your refrigerator or on a paper grocery sack to serve as a reminder to collect the items.
The more throw-away items each student brings for this activity, the more successful the activity will be. Posting the list on your refrigerator will serve as a reminder and aid in collecting the wanted items. You could tape the list on a paper grocery sack.
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