What Is This Bike Made Of?
(Adapted from Recycling: Mining Resources from Trash
Cornell Waste Management Institute)
 
Back to Trash Goes to School

 
GRADE LEVELS: 4-6
 
SUBJECT AREAS: social studies, home economics, math
 
CONCEPT: What are natural resources, and why are they important?
 
OBJECTIVE: To identify how many resources are used to produce an item and why each resource is so important.
 
MATERIALS: paper, pencil, bicycle or picture of one
 
KEYWORDS: natural resource
 
BACKGROUND: Use an object that youth are familiar with to explore how many resources are used to make it. Youth should realize that everything is made from a natural resource. Example: pencil, house, bicycle, car, softball.
 
PROCEDURE: Take an item that you are familiar with and list all the raw materials needed to produce it.
Example: Bike - aluminum (bauxite); steel; plastic; rubber
 

"What Is This Made Of" Record
 
Item being examined _____________________________

 Parts that make up the object  Raw materials needed  Renewable in 100 years?
 e.g. Bike  aluminum - bauxite  no