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TOXIC TRASH
MASTER TEACHER Nancy Long
GRADES 6-8
OVERVIEW
This environmental science lesson informs middle-school students
about toxic products around the home, their potential dangers, and the proper
way to dispose of them. They will inventory their homes to identify
potentially hazardous products and will calculate an average amount of such
products per family for the school. They will have hands-on experience in
classifying hazardous products according to type.
ETV SERIES
#101 Your Toxic Trash
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The student will be able to
* Classify hazardous wastes into four categories: flammable,
toxic, reactive, and corrosive.
* Extrapolate data to determine the amount of hazardous material
in a neighborhood
* Explain the potential environmental and health risks of each
type of hazardous material
* Illustrate the proper disposal of hazardous materials
* Participate in a campaign to inform the community about proper
disposal of hazardous materials
MATERIALS
(Pre-viewing activity)
Pretest, 1 copy per student
Pamphlet, Household Hazardous Waste: What You Should and
Shouldn’t Do, 1 copy per student (available from Water Environment
Federation, 601 Wythe St., Alexandria, VA 22314-1994, Http://www.wef.org)
(Viewing Activity)
Environmental Quiz answer sheet, 1 copy per student
(Post-viewing activity)
Examples of hazardous materials found in the home, at least one
container per student (may include the following):
Spray paint
Metal polish
Furniture polish
Hair spray
Oven cleaner
Batteries
Nail polish
Drain cleaner
Motor oil
Brake fluid
Transmission fluid
Antifreeze
Insect spray
Fertilizer
Weed killer
Moth balls
Swimming pool chemicals
Non-prescription medicines
Hazardous Materials Classification Sheet, one for every two or
three students
Transparency of Hazardous Materials Classification Sheet
Overhead transparency pen
PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITY
Distribute the pre-test to students. Allow five to seven
minutes to respond. Distribute the pamphlet Household Hazardous Waste: What
You Should and Shouldn’t Do to each student. Have them open the
pamphlet to the chart inside the foldout. Instruct students that every product
which they wrote on their list that appears on the chart with a red square
beside it is worth one point. If they have a product in their homes which
has a red square beside it but they did not write it on their list, they are to
subtract one point. If they wrote a product on their list that does not
have a red square on the chart, no points are added or deducted.
FOCUS FOR VIEWING
To give students a specific responsibility while viewing, say,
“We are going to take an environmental quiz as we watch this video.
Let’s see what we can learn about hazardous wastes in our homes.”
Distribute the Environmental Quiz answer sheets. Ask students to answer
the introductory question (How much hazardous waste do you think is thrown away
in America each year?).
Say, “Watch and listen to see if your answer was correct.”
VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Start the video at the beginning, with the scene of the
frontloader pushing trash in a landfill. Pause the video after the
narrator walks into the shop and says, “Every year American homeowners toss a
million tons of hazardous wastes into our household garbage.” Ask, “Was your
answer close to the correct answer?” Allow students to answer. Say,
“Now let’s watch to see what the law says about what we throw away.”
Resume the video. Pause when the words appear on the screen , “1
Toxic Trash Quiz/ Federal law allows homeowners to throw away the same chemicals
that factories must send to special hazardous waste facilities,” and the
narrator has read the words aloud. Ask students to mark their answers on the
Environmental Quiz answer sheet. Say. “ In the next section watch for
four types of hazardous wastes.” Resume the video. Pause when
the words flammable, toxic, reactive, and corrosive appear next to the white
diamond-shaped sign and the narrator has just said,”…and corrosive waste
eats away at metal containers and irritates your skin and eyes.” Ask, “What
are the four types of hazardous wastes? (flammable, toxic, reactive, and
corrosive) Which one can cause dangerous reactions with other substances?
(reactive) Which ones can cause fire? (flammable) Which ones are poisonous?
(toxic) Which ones can irritate your skin and eyes? (corrosive) Allow students
to respond after each question. Say, “ Now let’s watch to see which
combination of chemicals can cause a dangerous fire.” Resume the video.
Pause when these words appear on the screen and the narrator has read
them aloud: “2 Toxic Trash Quiz/ Which chemicals catch fire if mixed together
in the trash? A. pool chlorine and car brake fluid, B. ammonia and suntan
lotion, C. charcoal lighter and bleach.” (A. pool chlorine and car brake
fluid) Ask students to mark their predictions on the answer sheet. Resume
the video. Pause when the answer, pool chlorine and brake fluid, appears
on the screen and the narrator reads it aloud. Ask, “Was your prediction
correct?” Allow students to respond. Say, “In the next section
watch to see where most of the lead in landfills comes from.” Resume
the video. Pause when Quiz Question 3 appears on the screen and the
narrator reads, “What’s the biggest source of lead in U.S. landfills?
A. cans of lead-based paint, B. old water pipes and radiators, C.
car batteries, D. newspapers.” (C. car batteries) Allow students
to mark their answers. Resume the video. Pause when a
close-up of the top of a car battery with three blue caps appears and the
narrator says, “They account for more than half the lead in U.S. landfills.”
Ask, “How many picked car batteries? How many picked newspapers?
Allow students to respond. Say, “In this section to learn about the
amount of motor oil that’s improperly disposed of each year.” Resume
the video. Pause when Quiz Question 4 appears on the screen and the
narrator reads it aloud, “ True or false: More used motor oil is dumped on the
ground, tossed into landfills and poured into sewers every year than was
released during the Exxon Valdez spill.” (True) Allow students to mark
their responses. Resume the video. Pause when the man in the blue
cap opens the door and the narrator says, “…nearly nine times the amount
spilled by the Exxon Valdez.” Ask, “Who got that one right? How
does it make you feel that people are dumping so much used oil into the
environment? Allow students to respond. Say, “Does anyone know what to
do with old gasoline? Let’s watch to learn the correct way to dispose of
it.” Resume the video. Pause when quiz Question 5 appears
on the screen and the narrator reads it aloud, “What should you do with old
gasoline? A. mix it with kerosene and use it in camping stoves, B.
dilute each gallon of gas with ten gallons of water and pour it down the sewer,
C. pour the gas onto concrete and allow it to evaporate.” (None of the
answers is correct.) Allow students to mark their answers. Resume the
video. Pause when the gas is being poured into a big funnel and the
narrator says, “Steve Cleghorn’s old gasoline was mixed with other
recycled fuel and burned at a cement kiln.” Ask, “Since none of the
answers was correct, what did Steve end up doing with his old gasoline?
(He took it to a place that recycles fuel.) Say, “In the next section
watch to see what hazardous products can be recycled.” Resume the
video. Pause when Quiz Question 6 appears and the narrator reads, “Can
these products be recycled, yes or no? household batteries, car batteries,
auto antifreeze, pesticides, toilet bowl cleaner. Allow students to mark
their responses. Resume the video. Pause when the lady in the blue
dress says, “that’s the five percent you can’t do anything else with.”
Ask, “Which answers did you get right? Were you surprised to learn that
regular household batteries are hazardous waste?” Allow students to
respond after each question. Say, “ What do you think you should do with
old paint? Let’s watch to find out how to properly dispose of it.” Resume
the video. Pause when Quiz Question 7 appears and the narrator reads,
“What should you do with cans of old paint? A. allow the paint to harden
and place it in the trash, B. mix the paint together and use it as primer,
C. donate the paint to a theater group or charity, D. bring the
paint to a household hazardous waste center.” (B. mix the paint together
and use it as primer, or C. donate the paint to a theater group or
charity) Allow students to mark their answers. Resume the video. Pause
when the man in the blue sweater says, “It’s really a different type of
business when you get into recycling.” Ask, “How many got the answer
right? How many of you know of old cans of paint you have at your house?
What could you do with them that would not harm the environment?” Allow
students to respond after each question. Say, “Now watch to see
what the word nontoxic on a label means.” Resume the video. Pause
when Quiz Question 8 appears and the narrator reads, “What does the word
nontoxic on a label mean? A. the product contains no toxic ingredients,
B. the product does not harm the environment, C. the product does not harm
people when used as directed, D. all of the above. (C. the product does
not harm people when used as directed) Allow students to mark their
answers. Resume the video. Pause when the man with the black
mustache says, “…I think it’s a bit confusing to the consumer to make
these decisions.” Ask, “How did you do on the last question? Do
you feel confused by having to try to understand what the symbols on product
labels really mean?” Allow students to respond after each question.
Say, “Now watch to see what is our responsibility as consumers in the disposal
of hazardous wastes.” Resume the video. Stop when the
narrator looks at the camera and says, “There’s no place where you have more
control of the environment than your home.” Say, “How many learned
something new about hazardous materials from this video?” Allow students
to respond. Say, “Let’s apply our new knowledge of types of household
products to a classification activity.”
POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Display a variety of household chemical containers. There
should be at least one per student. Duplicates are fine. Divide
students into groups of two or three. Ask, “Who remembers they
four types of hazardous materials?” (flammable, toxic, reactive, corrosive)
Give one copy of the classification sheet to each group of
students. Have each student select a product from the display and take it
to his seat. Instruct students to examine the label of the product and decide
how it should be classified. Allow three minutes for this portion of the
activity. Then each student shows his/her product to the group and
indicates the evidence he/she found on the label for how he/she thinks it should
be classified. If the group agrees, all group members write the product
name under the proper heading on the classification sheet. If group
members disagree, they should re-read the label and reach an agreement about how
the product should be classified before writing it on the sheet. Do the
same with each of the products brought to the group. Then have students
return the products to the display station and select new ones. The
procedure is repeated until each group has classified all of the products (or at
least twenty if the class is large). (*Modification for Special Ed. students:
Pair them with a good reader to help them read the labels. Offer frequent
feedback on their responses.)
Show the transparency of the classification sheet. Select one
product from the display and call on one group to tell how they classified it.
Say to the class, “Raise your hand if your group agrees. (Wait for
response.) Say, “Raise your hand if you have a different answer.”
Call on anyone who has a different answer. Engage the class in a
discussion of which answer is correct if more than one is given, referring to
the product label to resolve the question. Repeat the procedure for
every product in the display (omit duplicates) until all answers are checked.
Have the class tally the number of products examined that fall into each
category and find the percent of the total for each category.
For homework, assign students to use the pamphlet Household
Hazardous Waste: What You Should and Shouldn’t Do to inventory
their homes. Beside the name of each product on the list, they should write the
NUMBER of containers in their home. Before the next day, find out how many
households are represented in the school population. The next day, compile
a total of each item for the class. Assign one or two item totals to each
student to divide by the number of households represented in the class. This
gives the average number of containers of each item per household. Tell
the class the number of households represented in the school population.
Again assign one or two items to each student and have them multiply the average
per household by the number of households to get an extrapolated total for the
school community. (*Modification for Special Ed. Students: Pair them with a
student who is good at math to help them with their calculations. Assign only
one item to Special Ed. Students to calculate.)
Action Plan
Divide the class into groups of four. Direct the students
to the Internet
website http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/webhazardouna.html.
This is a Webquest, an interactive critical thinking project on
hazardous waste. Have students complete the project in their groups and
share their results with the class.
Have the Head Custodian visit the class to show three or four
of the products used in cleaning at school. Let students look at copies of
the MSDS sheets for each product as he/she shows them. Discuss how the
chemicals are classified, how they are to be stored, how they can affect
humans, and how the containers may be disposed of.
Have students research Household Hazardous Wastes on the
Internet to find out how products adversely affect humans or the environment and
how they should be disposed of. Have each student make a poster on colored
8.5 x 11-inch paper showing the negative effects of one product and how it
should be disposed of. Display the posters together as a paper “quilt”
on a hallway wall.
Obtain copies of the pamphlet Household Hazardous Wastes:
Alternatives and General Storage Directions [available in bilingual
format from TNRCC, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, Texas 78711-3087, (512) 239-0028 or
(361)857-6284]. Discuss the pamphlet with students. Give each
student two copies. Assign them to take one copy home and discuss it with
their parents, and to take the other copy to a neighbor or relative who has no
children in this class and discuss it with them.
Call the Solid Waste Department of your city to find out when
hazardous wastes are picked up or may be taken to a central location for
disposal. Have students make a small poster showing the information and
display poster at home as a reminder.
EXTENSIONS
Language Arts: Write a story about a town
with a hazardous waste crisis such as a toxic spill, a fire at the landfill
caused by flammable chemicals, or an explosion caused by chemicals that were not
properly stored. Describe how the town deals with the problem.
Use the Internet to find out about recycling of one type of
hazardous waste. Write a letter to the City Council to persuade them to
begin a recycling program for that type of material, citing information
you gathered from your Internet search.
Math: Graph the results of the post-viewing homework
assignment to determine the total number of each kind of hazardous product in
the community.
In the video it was mentioned that one percent of trash
contains hazardous materials. Call the Solid Waste Department of your town
and find out the total amount of trash brought in daily. Calculate how
many pounds of that trash are hazardous. Convert the figure to kilograms.
History: Research the use of hazardous materials
in wartime (e.g., Agent Orange, nerve gas) and the effects they had on humans
and the environment.
Art: Use stitchery or fabric crayons and
cloth squares to reproduce the posters made in the post-viewing activity showing
the effects of hazardous materials on humans or the environment and the proper
way to dispose of them. Sew the squares together and quilt them to form a
“Haz-Mat” quilt to display.
Create a collage of one type of hazardous material (E.g.,
flammable, corrosive) from product packaging or advertisements.
Theater Arts: Read the labels on all
theatrical make-up, paint use in preparing sets, and any other chemicals used.
Prepare posters showing precautions to take when using the products and display
them in the Theater Arts classroom. Obtain MSDS sheets for those products
if they are available and keep them in the Theater Arts room.
Create a skit on the proper storage and disposal of hazardous
materials. Film the skit and make the videotape available to classes in the
school.
Physical Education: Ask a coach about
hazardous materials used in cleaning sporting equipment, administering first
aid, and washing athletic uniforms. Find out if he/she has MSDS sheets for
those materials. If not, obtain them from the manufacturer of each
product. Discuss the proper storage and disposal of the materials with the
coaching staff.
Foreign Language: Make a poster in the
language you are studying telling when hazardous wastes are picked up or may be
taken to a central location for disposal in your town.
Career Investigations: Find out about
careers in industrial hygiene, environmental safety, and solid waste management.
Music: Use the tune from an old song and make up
new words about how to be careful with hazardous materials.
Updated: April 01, 2008
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