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Build it Yourself
Garbage: Follow the Path of Your Trash with Environmental Science Activities for Kids
That potato chip bag you tossed in your trash can this afternoon—where does it go when it leaves your house?
Garbage: Follow the Path of Your Trash with Science Activities for Kids invites middle graders to investigate the world of trash! The average American produces more than four pounds of trash every day—multiply that by 300 million people and you’ve got a lot of garbage! Where does it go? How does it break down? What are the challenges of dealing with so much waste? What can we do decrease the amount of stuff we are throwing away? Garbage explores questions like these while encouraging kids to think about the choices they make that generate garbage in the first place.
In this book, kids discover the science of garbology, the fascinating world of midden excavation, and learn about different rubbish warriors who are determined to save the planet from being overrun with trash. Readers learn ways to reduce, reuse, recycle, and rethink their actions by diving into critical-thinking activities designed to get kids looking at trash as a situation in need of a solution. While we all appreciate our garbage to be out of sight and out of mind, it’s crucial to recognize the impact that human behavior has on the planet.
Garbage includes hands-on STEM activities and critical thinking exercises to encourage readers to figure out ways to be part of the rubbish revolution. Fun facts, links to online primary sources and other supplemental material, and essential questions take readers on an exploration of the path of trash!
Garbage is part of a set of four Build It Environmental Science books that explore the history and science of the planet and all that live on it through hands-on STEM activities and real-life environmental connections. Other titles in this series are Biodiversity, Planet Earth, and Biomes.
Nomad Press books integrate content with participation. Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, and STEM Education all place project-based learning as key building blocks in education. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. Nomad’s unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers.
- GenresScience
128 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 12, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 22, 2019
What happens to our garbage after it’s collected from the curb in front of our house? We know it goes away, but where is away and what does that mean? Garbage: Follow the Path of Your Trash by Donna Latham answers that question and more about the things we throw away.
Filled with fascinating information, Garbage has charts, pull-out definitions, activities, history, and other tidbits of facts to help anyone figure out how to reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle a multitude of items. It helps readers figure out how much garbage they produce and what types of trash end up in landfills. There’s also a great piece on how landfills are created and how they are filling up.
Separate chapters include info on hazardous and medical waste as well as investigating past civilizations through the trash they left. The book makes clear that everyone creates garbage of some type, but tells why it’s important for us all to find ways to create less of it.
Some activities are simple, some are more involved, but they are all fun. Examples include building a garbage can compost heap, creating a junk mail bead necklace, discovering how different types of bags break down, and tie-dying old shirts with vegetable dyes. A glossary of terms in the back is helpful, as is a list of resources for more exploration.
Garbage is the kind of book that can be referred to for years, with young readers trying different activities when they get curious about different topics. I highly recommend it for readers aged 9 and up.
The publisher provided me with a copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.
Filled with fascinating information, Garbage has charts, pull-out definitions, activities, history, and other tidbits of facts to help anyone figure out how to reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle a multitude of items. It helps readers figure out how much garbage they produce and what types of trash end up in landfills. There’s also a great piece on how landfills are created and how they are filling up.
Separate chapters include info on hazardous and medical waste as well as investigating past civilizations through the trash they left. The book makes clear that everyone creates garbage of some type, but tells why it’s important for us all to find ways to create less of it.
Some activities are simple, some are more involved, but they are all fun. Examples include building a garbage can compost heap, creating a junk mail bead necklace, discovering how different types of bags break down, and tie-dying old shirts with vegetable dyes. A glossary of terms in the back is helpful, as is a list of resources for more exploration.
Garbage is the kind of book that can be referred to for years, with young readers trying different activities when they get curious about different topics. I highly recommend it for readers aged 9 and up.
The publisher provided me with a copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.
February 20, 2023
Amazing. I highly recommend it for the information, and even more so for the activities. Some are just for fun, some are actual science experiments (suitable for science fairs or for homeschooling and enrichment), some are crafts. I even found a craft that I can use (salvaging the pocket from discarded clothing, attaching a magnet, and hanging it on the refrigerator for pens, coupons, etc.). All ages!!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews