Recycling Bins and their colours

28/04/2008 (Monday)

(i) Skipping rope
Rather than Corner Playing, I introduced skipping ropes to the kids. First, I had two kids to hold the handles and sit on the floor. The kids shaked the rope as if it was a snake. The other kids lined up to jump over it. Most of them could do it except a few kids. To make things more interesting, I placed 3 hula hoops. Thus, after crossing the skipping rope, the kids would hop into the 3 hoops. Finally, they hit my tambourine which I held high up. I asked them to guess the objectives of the class. This game would strengthen their legs and help in height growth.
(M/I: Body Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Logical Mathematical skills)

(ii) Newspaper and seals
JS brought a newspaper article on seals in Antartica. The kids could quickly relate to the polar bear video clip I showed them earlier. So, I asked them to guess the picture. SY said the seals will not have that much ice as before. JN said that the ice is breaking and will be dangerous to the seals. They would drown and die. In fact, their food may such as fish might also be affected. They talked about other animals under the Antartica ice. Among them were sharks, turtles, fish, dolphins and also water plants.
(M/I: Naturalist, Linguistic, Interpersonal, Logical Mathematical skills)

(iii) Cue: If you love our world
I introduced a new rule in the class whereby the kids are to gather in front the moment they hear the song, If you love our world. I chose this because they loved it very much and also the morale behind the song.
(M/I: Linguistic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal skills)

(iv) Song: Do Something About It
At tea break, we sang the song, “Do Something About It”. They like the CHORUS part. I got them to explain the song. ZY, YZ and SYu volunteered. We sang twice and it was a little bit challenging for them as the lyrics were rather long. However, they showed signs of trying out the song. Furthermore, ZJ brought some honey cornflakes for us which the kids love so much!
(M/I: Naturalist, Linguistic, Interpersonal, Musical skills)

(v) The Recycling Bins Colours
Next, I drew the 3 Recycling Bins representing plastic, paper and glass. I asked them if they could remember the colour as they spend every morning at the playground. Furthermore, they visited that section once in our earlier lessons. YZ, ZY, JN and YP were determined giving the answers. YZ, JN and YP gave the same asnwer and which were correct but ZY disagreed with them. Thus, we went down to the playground another time to reconfirm the answer. However, I reminded not to talk about the answers as they had to tell me personally later. After the short visit, I called them individually to tell the answer. SJ, YX, JN, YP, ZYg were completely right. ZY then realised his mistake and he smiled bashfully. The kids learnt to say in complete sentences:
"The Plastic Recycling Bin is orange". "The Paper Recycling Bin is blue. The Glass Recycling Bin is brown".
(M/I: Linguistic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Logical Mathematical skills)

(vi) Why 3 separate bins?
We talked about the different types of paper, cans, tins and glasses. The itens had to be separated as they would be produced into different products! I would touch on the various plastic types in the next few lessons. SY said the lorry driver would carry the recycled items to a Recycling Centre. However, I told them that these items need to be flattened before being melted in a high temperature of fire! I reminded them that they are not only saving the Earth but able to earn some pocket money for their family. Recycling the aluminum cans and tins would reduce the use of natural resources.
(M/I: Naturalist, Linguistic, Interpersonal, Logical Mathematical skills)