Environmental Classroom Projects for Teens

“Reduce, reuse, recycle” is a phrase that many of us have learned in public school. It is easy to incorporate these principles in a classroom project to pass them on to the next generation. Many activities can help students explore how to implement this phrase in everyday ways.

You can give reused, recycled junk new meanings by incorporating it into many student subjects. You can adapt most of these projects for any grade level.

Observe how organic and inorganic materials decompose

Subjects: Science, language arts

Teaching students why they should reduce, reuse, and recycle is a valuable life lesson. An activity that shows how different materials decompose can help bring the concept to life.

Start by choosing a few different organic and inorganic materials to observe. Have your students predict how long it will take for each to decompose. Ask them to keep a journal of their observations. Younger students can draw the materials, while older students can write in-depth descriptions of what they see.

This lesson demonstrates how organic materials decompose more quickly than inorganic materials. The inorganic materials will remain in your landfills for a considerable time. Fortunately, most of these materials can now be recycled.

Start a composting project.

Subject: Science

Composting is a great way to reuse organic materials that are often sent to a landfill.

This project can be done in your classroom or elsewhere on school grounds. Use this project to demonstrate how organic materials decompose. You can use journaling for this project as well. They can document what they observe as your compost project changes over time.

Make your own paper.

Subject: Art

One of the best ways to understand recycling is to recycle materials yourself! Making paper using scraps will require several materials to be prepared in advance. You can look up the process of making paper online.

Calculate your impact on the environment.

Subject: Math

Everyone wants to feel like they are contributing to something bigger than themselves. This is a great way to make a difference. When we reduce our consumption, we can calculate its impact on the environment. Here is a list of ideas to consider:

• Calculate how much trash each student generates daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.
• Calculate how much trash their family, school, city, town, and state generate yearly.
• How can they reduce their CO₂ emissions? Calculate how many emissions your family could save by using public transportation to school and work. Ideas include using energy-efficient lightbulbs in their house and switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet.
• If each student reduces their CO₂ emissions by 1/3, how much CO₂ would they save? How much CO₂ would they produce?

Home energy audit

Subjects: Science with an engineering component

Have students list all the appliances and light bulbs in their house. How much energy does their home use if all the lights are on for 4 hours daily? How much energy could they save by switching to energy-efficient appliances?

For younger students, you can estimate how much energy household appliances use. This would simplify the project. You can show older students how to use a wattmeter. Then they can measure their own energy use.

Local business energy audit

Subjects: Math, science with an engineering component

You can move your energy audit project to a local business. Learn how much trash they create. How many appliances does it use daily? Are there ways for them to reduce their waste or CO₂ emissions? With the savings, how many CO₂ emissions could be reduced? For a more straightforward project, estimate how much junk there is. Older students can call or visit local businesses to conduct an energy audit.

Write proposals to companies and lawmakers.

Subjects: Language arts, civics

When we talk about reducing, reusing, and recycling, we typically focus on our personal actions. Encourage your students to practice this at home with their families. However, as you know, the most significant contributor to climate change is industrial activities. Connecting with local businesses or lawmakers could make a more substantial impact on CO₂ emissions. For example, a second grader convinced a local fast-food chain to use more recycled products.

Have your students find local businesses or lawmakers to influence. Have your student write a letter asking lawmakers to take action to reduce their CO2 emissions. This might include composting their organic waste, using more recycled materials, or supporting laws protecting local forests. Help students brainstorm who would be the most influential to receive the letter. Figure out what action the students want the business or lawmaker to take. Finally, write a letter emphasizing why the action is essential.

Research project

Subjects: History, social studies, with an optional technology

Older students can do research projects and present their findings in a paper or presentation to the class. You can incorporate a technology component by having students prepare their presentations in Prezi or PowerPoint. Here are some ideas:

• Research an organization that helps the community reduce, reuse, or recycle in some way. What services do they provide? How do they help reduce our environmental impact?
• How can we repair or reuse items instead of throwing them away?
• What critical historical moments are related to reducing, reusing, and recycling? For example, laws, practices, or inventions.
• How do other countries around the world reduce, reuse, or recycle?