Reducing Waste in our Lunchroom
                                                                        By:  Sarah Jackson

Project at a Glance :

This project is for a 1st grade classroom focusing on the Social Studies standards of “Understanding the effects of human-environment interactions.”  It explores how, as a class, we can reduce our waste output in the lunchroom and use it for more sustainable purposes. 
       
Driving Question:

How can our class help reduce lunch waste?             

Standards:

• Skills4Sucess: Problem solving, Ethical Citizenship and Communication
• SS GLCE:  P3.1:Identifying and Analyzing Public Issues
• P3.3:Persuasive Communication About a Public Issue
• P4.2: Citizen Involvement

Team / Culture Building:

• Inner Heroes protocol will help divide groups as well as a modified Creative Sequence DNA protocol.

​Entry Event:

• Introduce a video of Coopersville Landfill, photos of all the food being discarded after lunch, books on composting (Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth)  ​

• Using Studies Weekly publication week 7: Citizens
• Show Reduce waste video

Stakeholders:

• Food Service Coordinator
• Lunch Servers
• Administration
• Paraprofessionals  
• Students 
• Teachers

Empathy Building:

• Create Empathy Maps for each stakeholder
• Pains/Gains Map for stakeholders​

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

•  Answer questions:  How much waste do we create? What is already being done with the waste? What are some ideas we have to help reduce this waste?
• Interview stakeholders to find out what they would like to see happen regarding cafeteria waste.
• Research/investigate what is already done with waste.
• Artifact Analysis (waste in the lunchroom): What do we have and how can we change this?

Incubation:

• Promote the idea that no solution idea is a bad one, even when some are outrageous, let the kids explore and imagine.
• Share ideas with small groups/whole group lists
• Idea Quota - 100 ideas, continue this into solution stage.​

• Mind Mapping
• Brainwriting

Checking in:

• Surveys on how they think it is going
• Checking in twice a week 
• Smile charts
  
• Sticky notes - answering prompts to get them to continue thinking)
• Think, Pair, Share

---

Solution Building:

• Students work in groups to use the ideas that came up during incubation stage to come up with ideas: Think, Pair, Share
• Gallery Walks
• Dot Voting
• NUF Test​​

Critique and Revision: 

• Dot Voting - Teacher collects dots so kids can’t see their friends’ choices)
• Have lunch servers and/or admin give  input on the solutions generated in order to help narrow it down.

Authentic Audience:

• Panel of principal, lunch servers, paraprofessionals and 2nd graders.

Final Presentation:

• Presentations may be in person, via video, and/or Flipgrid
• Students presentations may include a prototype, poster session and/or Flip Grid presentations.​

Click here for teacher's full plan.

​Reflection and Feedback:

•  Single Point rubric link
• The class will read through the feedback from audience and discuss what they liked and disliked.

Click here for the teacher's Journey through PBL on Padlet . . .

Meet the Educator:

Sarah Jackson teaches first grade at East Elementary School, Coopersville Public Schools.

     "PBL and Design thinking are such cool ways for kids to collaborate and express themselves. They are given tools to use even past their academic careers. It is so fun to watch the different ways the students think when they are given the opportunity to work on their own and collaborate with their peers."