Engineering Trash to Treasure: Teaching youth how to be green

Green Living Science (GLS) will be creating hands-on learning kits, which will be used in 15 3rd grade science classrooms in Detroit as part of GLS’ Reduce, Reuse Recycle curriculum. Arts and Scraps will design the learning kit and use volunteers for assembly. Materials to fill the kits will be chosen based on items that can be recycled at Detroit’s drop off facility, Recycle Here!

The ioby funds will be used to purchase materials to create 600 classroom kits. With direction from GLS educators, the students will be asked to use the items in the kits to create a recycling machine. GLS educators will meet with the students receiving the lessons 4 times. The first is part of an all-school assembly to go over the three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle). The second is the Materials lesson, where the kits will be used, the third lesson is focused on Energy and the fourth lesson is focused on Pollution.

Similiar to all of the kits Arts and Scraps create, there is no right answer to how the students assemble the kits. They are able to use their imagination and learn about process and how to make things work in creative ways. The lesson uses engineering and science basics to get students thinking about how to begin to solve real community problems.

• GLS will share the "Materials" lesson plan with Arts and Scraps. Lessons have been created by volunteer engineers and GLS staff. 
• Arts and Scraps will design a kit to go along with the lesson.
• Arts and Scraps and Green Living Science will work with Recycle Here! to identify sources for materials needed for the kits. 
• Volunteers will be recruited to assemble the kits the first week of October.
• Arts and Scraps will train GLS educators on how to use the kits.
• GLS educators will use the kits during the Materials lesson, being done in 15 Detroit science classrooms.

This project will be addressing two main challenges.

1. Detroit lacks a culture of recycling due to a history of limited or no availability to recycle. The City of Detroit is beginning to implement residential curbisde recycling for the first time. These neighborhoods in the initial pilot area had a very low participation rate (average 25%). The low participation rate has been attributed to limited education being provided to the residents. To address this, GLS will be teaching students how and why to recycle at home and at school, so they can share information and enthusiasm with their families and community.
    
2. Detroit students lack engineering education; however, there are increasing job opportunities for engineers. By asking students to solve a problem by creating a machine, students will learn how things work and feel empowered to find solutions in creative ways.