Originally developed as part of the (COIILS)

Description: For this investigation students collect a sample of litter found in marked off areas of the schoolyard. They then sort and weigh the litter to determine the amount and type of litter found in those areas. After data is collected they can submit their results online.

Grade Levels: 4-10 (Note: This experiment can be simplified or made more challenging depending on the developmental levels of your students. See Teacher Information.)

Approximate Time Involved: One or two 30-minute classroom planning sessions, 30 minutes to select and set up plots, 45 minutes for at least three days to collect, sort and count litter, 30 minutes to enter data online, one or two 30-minute classroom sessions to examine results, state conclusions, draw inferences, and make recommendations. NOTE: Litter should be collected from plots on three different days with one week separating each day.

National Science Standards Addressed:

Content Standard A: As a result of activities in grades K-12, all students should develop

• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
• Understanding about scientific inquiry

Program Standard D: The K-12 science program must give students access to appropriate and sufficient resources, including quality teachers, time, materials, and equipment, adequate and safe space, and the community.

• Good science programs require access to the world beyond the classroom.

Illinois Applications for Learning:

• Through applications of learning, students demonstrate and deepen their understanding of basic knowledge and skills.
• Recognize and investigate problems; formulate and propose solutions supported by reason and evidence.
• Express and interpret information and ideas.
• Use appropriate instruments, electronic equipment, computers and networks to access information, process ideas and communicate results.
• Learn and contribute productively as individuals and as members of a group.
• Recognize and apply connections of important information and ideas within and among learning areas

Illinois Science Goal 11: Understand the processes of scientific inquiry and technological design to investigate questions, conduct experiments, and solve problems.

• Standard A. Know and apply the concepts, principles, and processes of scientific inquiry.

Illinois Science Goal 12: Understand the fundamental concepts, principles and interconnections of the life, physical and earth/space sciences.

• Standard E. Know and apply the concepts that describe the features and processes of the Earth and its resources.

Illinois Science Goal 13: Understand the relationships among science, technology, and society in historical and contemporary contexts.

• Standard A. Know and apply accepted practices of science.

Illinois Math Goal 6: Demonstrate and apply a knowledge and sense of numbers, including numeration and operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division), patterns, ratios and proportions.

• Standard A. Demonstrate knowledge and use of numbers and their representations in a broad range of theoretical and practical settings
• Standard B. Investigate, represent and solve problems using number facts, operations ( addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) and their properties, algorithms, and relationships.
• Standard D. Solve problems using comparison of quantities, ratios, proportions, and percent.

Illinois Language Arts Goal 1: Read with understanding and fluency.

• Standard C. Comprehend a broad range of reading materials.

Illinois Language Arts Goal 3: Write to communicate for a variety of purposes.

• Standard A. Use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and structure.
• Standard B. Compose well-organized and coherent writing for specific purposes and audiences.
• Standard C. Communicate ideas in writing to accomplish a variety of purposes.

Illinois Language Arts Goal 5: Read with understanding and fluency.

• Standard A. Locate, organize and use information from various sources to answer questions, solve problems and communicate ideas.
• Standard B. Analyze and evaluate information acquired from various sources.
• Standard C. Apply acquired information, concepts and ideas to communicate in a variety of formats.

Teacher Information:

Litter dropped onto an area of land varies from location to location within the schoolyard. Students can measure the litter on the schoolyard by using golf tees to mark various locations. Students can see if there is a difference in the type of litter in different areas of the schoolyard. Additionally, they can determine how much of each type of litter is collected.

If the intent is to submit this data online to compare with the data of others, it will be important to follow the procedure as it is stated, or make certain your students use an appropriate experimental design that will provide them with the requested data. Depending upon the ability and cooperation of the class, each teacher has the option of presenting as much or as little information as they deem necessary.

This should become a team exercise where each group develops and writes a hypothesis or problem statement, conducts the investigation by following the procedures, draws conclusions, makes inferences, and then comes up with recommendations for a redesign of the investigation. An excellent way to assess this activity is to have the teams repeat each other's experiment to see if they achieve the same results. This will also replicate the real world challenges facing a research scientist.

Challenging Your Students to Be Problem Solvers:

Student Instructions Available to download as a PDF file.

Needed Materials Per Group: 1 - clipboard, 4 - golf tees, 3 - large trash bags, 30 - plastic grocery bags, 2 - tongs, 6 pair - plastic gloves, 1 - balance, 1 - newspaper or 8 - large sheets of white paper. 

Safety Rule: It is recommended that students wear gloves to pick up the trash found in their 10 square meter plot. Do not pick up hypodermic needles or syringes, if found, report them to your teacher and then record them on your tally sheet.

Procedure:

Student Information: The following information will provide you with the steps for setting up your investigation of schoolyard litter. It is important to hold all of the variables constant except for those that are being manipulated. Constant (or controlled variables) would be such things as: the size of the plot, the chosen day of collection, the weather, the amount of time the experiment is conducted, etc. In this case the manipulated (or independent) variable would be the thing that we change to see if the response will be different - plot location.   The responding (or dependent) variable for this experiment will be number and types of litter collected from each plot. NOTE: Weather is one variable that will be difficult to control in this experiment. However, from your experiments, you may be able to infer if the weather has an impact on the number and types of litter collected.

Steps for Conducting the Investigation

• 1. Click on the “View Data” link at the Schoolyard Litter Investigation web page. Click on “View” in the blank sample listed on the chart.  What comes up is the data collection sheet that will be used in this investigation. Print it and place it on your clipboard.
• 2. Each student group will be assigned a location around the school comparable to those in the dropdown list on the data collection sheet (sidewalk area, parking lot area, school entrance area, ditch area, fence area, playground area). Try to choose locations that appear to have litter dropped daily. If you opt for another area other than those just listed be sure to describe it in “Comments” when you enter your data online.
• 3. Once you have chosen the locations use golf tees to mark a 10 square meter plot in the area you were assigned. NOTE: This size was chosen to allow you to have a 2 X 5 meter rectangle along some heavily littered area.  
• 4. Please push the tees deep into the soil at each corner of your plot so that only their tops are exposed. This area will be used to collect the schoolyard litter.  If you are using a GPS to relocate your plot later, be sure to acquire and name a Waypoint for a corner of each plot at this time.  It would also be wise to locate a corner in another fashion in case the tees are lost or taken.
• 5. Write down your group's name and the plot location you were given to make your collections. Write the name of this location on the large plastic bags. Use one bag for each of your three collection days.
• 6. Collect all of the litter from your plot on day 1. Safety Alert: Please cover your hands with plastic gloves and/or use tongs to collect the waste. Do not pick up needles or syringes. If found, just record them on your tally sheet and then report them to your teacher.
• 5. After a 7-day period of time, return to your location and collect the litter from your marked 10 square meter plot a second time.  Repeat the above process one more time after seven more days.
• 6. Take your collection bag of litter back to your classroom. Cover a table with large sheets of white paper or newspapers. NOTE: This can also be done on the floor if there are no tables available. Using plastic gloves or tongs, carefully remove the collected litter from your plastic bag. Sort the litter into its various groups as described on the data collection sheet downloaded and printed from the Schoolyard Litter web page. Keep the litter from each location separate.
• 7. Using the data collection sheet, record the numbers of each type of litter.
• 8. After recording the numbers, place each type of litter from your location in a bag for weighing.  Weighing helps you to work out the exact proportion of the different types of materials more accurately than just recording the numbers of each.  Be sure that your weight measurements are metric (grams).
• 9. Repeat steps 4 through 7 above once every week for three weeks.
• 10. Complete the data collection sheet and display your results.  NOTE: You may choose to complete a data collection sheet for your plot each week, or take an average over the three-week period and report the results on one data collection sheet. If you choose to average your data, be sure to state that it is a 3-week average on your collection form.
• 11. After group and classroom discussions have occurred, login to enter your data online at the correct location.  NOTE: Only numbers must be inserted into the spaces provided in order for your Excel spreadsheet to work properly.
• 12. Once all classroom data is submitted you can download all submitted Schoolyard Litter data and develop charts and graphs in Excel by following the general directions provided at "Downloading and Analyzing Collected Data Using an Excel Spreadsheet"

Below is a list of questions that can be used to stimulate student discussions. If your students are at a developmental level where you are able to challenge their higher level thinking skills, then only present them with the first set of questions from each group below. Use the second list of questions as a way to stimulate thinking when you students seem unable to expand their knowledge on their own.

Examining Local Results

Discussion Questions that Require More Critical Thinking Skills:

• What were your conclusions for this experiment?
• What could your infer based on your conclusions?
• What is the cost of schoolyard litter removal?
• How would you design this experiment differently the next time?

Discussion Questions that Require Less Critical Thinking Skills

• How much litter did you collect from each plot?
• What type of litter did you collect at the different locations?
• What are some categories we can divide the types of litter collected into?
• Which type of litter weighed the most?
• Did the outside weather have any impact on the number of types of litter collected?
• Would you expect to find the same amount and kind of litter all year round? How could you test your predictions experimentally?

Examining Local and Online Results

Discussion Questions That Will Require Critical Thinking Skills to Compare Local Data to the Online Data of Others

• How did your results compare with the results of others?
• What conclusions can you make when you compare your results with the results of others?
• What inferences can you draw from your additional conclusions?
• What changes would you now make in this experiment based on the information you now have?

General Discussion Questions that May Occur as a Result of Comparing Local Data to the Online Data of Others

• Where are the geographic locations of the schools who have provided online data?
• How did the types of litter collected compare with those collected by others?
• What external factors may have contributed to number and type of litter collected in other schoolyards?
• What similarities existed among those schools that collected the same number and types of litter?

Litter Links

Litter Around School This site offers suggestions on how you can keep your school ground clean. Students can develop an Action Plan to start cleaning their school yard.

EPA Information Site The environmental protection agency offers information and resources helpful to students and teachers.

EcoRecycle Unit This site explains why people litter, the effects of littering, and offers simple suggestions to help prevent littering.

How Can My Community Reduce Waste? This site helps you find solutions to how your community can reduce waste. It also takes a look at the global effects of littering.

Keeping Our Planet Green This is a great site. It covers a broad range of topics related to ecology and pollution. It even has fun games for students, lesson plans for teachers and resources to help solve our littering problem.

More links to Schoolyard Habitat Information

Schoolyard Habitat Links Learn more about developing and maintaining schoolyard and backyard habitats by visiting these links.

Back to COIILS Main Page

Back to STAR Main Page