Rethinking Recycling
Social Studies Showcase Project

(due date: November 18 and 19, 2025)

In our Activation Activities in September, you explored inventors and inventions as well as your own daily activities related to producing and consuming.

Background Information

Producers create goods and services, while consumers purchase and use goods and services to satisfy their personal wants and needs. Producers and consumers can be found in both an economic context, as well as, in an ecosystem context.

In an ecosystem, producers are organisms, such as plants, that create their own food using energy from the sun through photosynthesis, forming the base of the food chain. Consumers are organisms that obtain energy by eating other plants or animals.

What some Consumers do Listen to music, Read books, View art, Play computer games, Eat food, Wear clothes, Watch sports

What some Producers do Perform or compose music, Write stories and poems, Draw and paint, Program computer games, Cook food, Design or sew or knit clothes, Play sports

Question #1 – Check your Activation Activity

  • Check how much you produce and consume. Use your graph from your Math Activation Activity in September. Sort your activities into a producer role or a consumer role.
  • Are there areas in your life where you are over consuming?
  • Is there an area where you can become more of a producer?

Question #2 – Family Discussion

Have an in-depth family discussion using the following guiding questions:

  • What is annoying or something that bothers your family with regards to recycling?
  • What is your family doing to reduce excess packaging?
  • The 4 Rs are Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, and Recycling. Reduce, Reuse, and Repurpose are more important and have the most impact.
  • Compare your municipality’s recycling process to another city or province or country (older Wednesday students only).

Question #3 – Research and Write a Report

In our world today, we often see examples of over production, over consumption, and excessive waste production. Do some research to find out how goods and services are produced, consumed, and reused/repurposed. Show your research by drawing and writing about what you learned.

  • Find examples of people who are producing something new out of a waste product (1 for kindergarten, 2 for Tuesday students, 3 for Wednesday students).
  • Are there areas in your family life or community (i.e. creating art, energy use and lights, water consumption, crafting, or cooking food) where there is over production or excessive waste production? (Older Wednesday students also research an example of over production or excessive waste production in the world)
  • What is the impact of this over production or excessive waste production on you, your community, or the world?
  • How much writing?
    K to grade 2 – 1 to 2 sentences (draw a picture, and copy words or parents can scribe)
    grade 3 to 5 – 3 to 5 sentences
    grade 6 to 8 – 2 to 4 paragraphs (cite your sources of information)

Question #4 – Build it!

  • You are the inventor! Suggest a specific way to reuse or repurpose so that fewer things end up in the garbage. For example, find something that you are throwing out, and do something with it so it can be reused or repurposed.
  • Make a new product or create a prototype of a new product, by using the item that was destined for the garbage.

Showcase Day

On showcase day, Nov 18 and 19, bring your writing from question #3 and your prototype from question #4 to class. You will have an opportunity to share your researched information and prototype during your presentation. Aim to summarize your research in your own words, without reading directly from your writing.