Needless waste

Play games to learn about what we need to survive and how we have many wants that results in lots of waste. Make a snack bag to reduce our waste.

  • Grade K
  • 3 activities
  • 1.2 hours
Lesson Image

Big idea

Kindergarten

Science

  • Plants and animals have observable features.


Social Studies

  • Rights, roles, and responsibilities shape our identity and help us build healthy relationships with others.


Physical and Health Education

  • Learning about ourselves and others helps us develop a positive attitude and caring behaviours, which helps us build healthy relationships.


Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies

  • Skills can be developed through play.


Learning objectives

Students will be able to:

  • Understand the difference between needs and wants.
  • Be aware of choices that contribute to health and well-being.
  • Make choices that create less waste in their lives so reduces resource, energy and water waste.
  • Follow simple instructions to make a reusable snack bag that they can bring to school, reducing waste of single use plastics.


Activities

BC curriculum fit

Kindergarten

Social Studies

Content

  • Needs and wants of individuals and families

Curricular competencies

  • Use Social Studies inquiry processes and skills to ask questions; gather, interpret, and analyze ideas; and communicate findings and decisions


Science

Content

  • Basic needs of plants and animals

Curricular competencies

Applying and innovating
  • Take part in caring for self, family, classroom and school through personal approaches


Physical and Health Education

Content

  • Practices that promote health and well-being.

Curricular competencies

Healthy and active living
  • Identify opportunities to make choices that contribute to health and well-being.


Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies

Curricular competencies

Applied design - Making
  • Make a product using known procedures or through modelling of others.
Applied skills
  • Use materials, tools, and technologies in a safe manner in both physical and digital environments.

Background info

All living things have basic needs like air, water, food, clothing, shelter, love and acceptance, safety and education. However, its important to understand that needs are different from wants. Many things we want in our lives are not needs but luxuries and the impact of ‘many wants’ is significant. Having less in our lives is beneficial in many ways:

  • We waste less such as resources, energy, and water that are needed to make our luxuries. Saving resources, energy and water means fewer burdens on our planet.
  • We can share the resources, energy and water with others on our planet.
  • We can create lending libraries like tools, and equipment so we can own less, have access to more and build community. 
  • We have less clutter which makes us focus on the things that matter like spending time with family and friends.
  • Our space is quicker and easier to tidy up.
  • We can find things easier.
  • We save money which can be used to do fun things with family and friends.
  • Send less stuff to landfill which takes up space and/or recycling, which uses a lot of energy and water. 

Assessments

The activities in this lesson provide an opportunity to assess individual students and groups on their ability to:

  • Understand differences between needs and wants through an interactive game setting.
  • Reduce their wants so they can use less resources, water and energy.
  • Participate in a group setting with respect and cooperation.
  • Follow instructions and use fine motor skills to make a reusable snack bag.

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