STRATEGIES OF WASTE PREVENTION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Hosted by OSOS , contributed by A_Stoe on 6 February 2018

A regional waste incineration plant will provide the learning focus, on-site and virtual. An e-learning platform will function as the „out-of-school“-learning location of the power plant. Likewise, students should be made aware of cognitive and affective elements in the „Resource Management“-module for the omnipresent topic of sustainability. The inclusion of society in science and innovation plays an important role, as well as competences in the area of RRI (Responsible Research and Innovation: i.e. inclusion of society in questions, strategies and activities of science) should be taught.

As part of an inquiry-based teaching for fifth and sixth graders, students learn in small groups, how to dispose of, reuse or avoid waste. In addition to reusable raw materials of garbage, energy recovery from residual waste should be made tangible and understandable.Via the e-learning platform, students will get access to virtual animations, webcams, measuring sensors and registered measurement data as live data, which are to be edited and graphically displayed in the sense of competence orientation.

What should be learned in this accelerator:

  • Students get an insight into the tasks and processes in a waste-to-energy plant.
  • Students get know the possibilities of waste reduction.
  • Students know the construction of a waste-to-energy plant and name technical applications of the central components and transfer them to the original object.
  • Energy transformation and sustainable action are the focus of this intervention.
  • Students learn the use of the waste-to—energy plant for the local society

The e-learning platform requires students to feel like a real member of the society. Pupils should be prepared for everyday situations out of the “real life”. This kind of teaching aims to educate them to responsible citizens of the society by teaching pronciples in RRI.

The following RRI Priciples ar focused:

a) Public engagement:

  • Students create solutions to reduce waste in small peer groups and share their ideas to the other groups, to find creative ideas to have more public engagement
  • Students compare the recycling circle to the circle of life in nature

b) Ethics:

  • Students see the hudge ammount of waste people produce which can not be reused in the usual way
  • Students reflect their conclusions about consumer behavior and really needed wrapping material
  • Aligning research to social values of the society

c) Science education:

  • Students know the construction of a waste-to-energy plant and name technical applications of the central components and transfer them to the original waste powerplant.
  • Connction between the subjects biology, physics
  • Researchers and stakeholders work together to solve social challenges
  • Creating a functional model of a power plant helps to understand crucial steps in the waste-to-energy plant
Science education and local needs are connected to RRI and present potential impacts on the environment and society.

 

 

Learning Objectives
how a waste incineration plant is working, importance of recycling of raw materials, explain the energy conversion from thermal energy to electrical energy, use of the garbage plant for the society, how to avoid waste, be prepared for everyday situations
Teacher: A_Stoe
Age group
9-12
Students participating
0

Feel

Real challange:

In this FEEL phase we will introduce students to a waste to energy plant; to show them how much waste is produced by the people out of their region and how necessary it is to protect the environment.

  1. Students will begin a research project and discover how a waste to energy plant works and waht is the real benefit for the society.
  2. Students get information form the stakeholders and researchers about the technology.
  • There is a mountain of waste in front of you ....what can you do to reduce it?
  • How does a waste incineration plant work?
  • Why is it so important to recycle waste and to save raw materials?
  • How is it possible to turn thermal energy into electrical energy?
  • Why is a garbage plant necessary and useful?

Pupils should be prepared for everyday situations and “real life” scenarios. This kind of teaching aims to educate pupils to be responsible citizens in the society.

Tip: Students may go to their family and make a little survey about the recycling of waste issue.

 

Imagine

The Project has 4 Stations going forward step by step, using different teaching methods, to create a "real life" situation and to inspire students to creat different solutions for the global waste problem.

Station 1: Does the mountain of waste have to be so high?

  1. Warm UP
  2. Motivation phase of the students ro be interessted in the challange,  30 -45 min

Content: Recycling, Reuse, Recover, Reduse, Activation of the Pupils, Repetition and Definition of Terms
Impuls: Picture of an unsorted mountain of garbage

http://portal.opendiscoveryspace.eu/sites/default/files/u35214/disposal-1846033_1280_0.jpg

Station 2: Turn old into new or even steampower

Function and construction of a waste to energy plant used a functional model, 90 min

Teaching Method: Eggrace in class; Bottom up
Content: Representationa of a waste incineration plant in the model, which will then be compared during the guided tour with the real object
Pupils receive a short input film on how a waste to energy plant works (see below)

Station 3: Recycling and recovery of raw materials

Teaching Method: Top down; 45 min
Content: Pupils explor the process of recovering raw materials from packaging material and make their own new material, recognizing the benefits of separation waste

Station 4: raw materials

Teaching Method: Top down; 45 min                                                                                                                                                

Content: Pupils get an insight into the basic products from which our goods are made.
Starting material for all products are raw materials
eLearning: Geographically, the main locations of the raw materials are shown (if necessary google earth) with brief information about which location comes from, who benefits from what and who is exploited.

Create

recycle: e.g. make fleece jackets out of plastik bottles

reduse: e.g. use plastik bags more often

recover: e.g. use materials more often in diferent contexts or produce energy

reuse: e.g. especially avoid waste

Find your own solution

Find a solution that adresses to your lokal needs !

  • Students get an insight into the tasks and processes of a waste-to-energy plant.
  • Students get know the possibilities of waste reduction
    •  note them to share them with other students an collect creative ideas
  • Students know the construction of a waste-to-energy plant 
    • name technical applications of the central components 
    • transfer them to the original object

Energy transformation and sustainable action are the focus of this intervention.

Students learn the use of the waste-to-energy plant for the local society.

They create a model of a wate to energy plant to understand the using and the steps how it works.

Share

The idieas and solutions of the students are shown and shared to the society in different kind of ways

Students share their ideas and knowledge how by transparents shown to the society.

This will happen at social events at the location of the energy plant and in the building of the government by the end of the school term.

Talk with their family and their friends about their solutions in the waste problem.

Students create exhibitions in the waste to energy plant.

Pictures and contet of the exiibitions will be published at the local newspaper or the hompage of the waste to energy plant.

The students submit accessibility reports to public administrations and to their community.