Too Much Trash in the Cafeteria!

Mrs. Koehler

4^th Grade – Cicero Elementary School

PPA Webquest

mkoehler@nscsd.org

Introduction:

We all know the importance of recycling. You recycle bottles, paper, cans, and cartons in your homes all the time. We recycle paper, cardboard, water bottles, and milk cartons in our classroom every day. The one place in our school that contributes to the most waste does not even have a recycling bin! Have you figured out the place? It’s the cafeteria! What can we do to help this problem?

Task:

You will work in cooperative groups to analyze the problem of no recycling in the cafeteria, and devise a solution to the problem. You and your team will write a letter to our principal and head custodian outlining your solution to the problem of no recycling in the cafeteria. If your solution is adopted, you will be responsible for presenting your idea to the school on the Chipper Morning Show.

Process/Resources:

You will be working in groups of 3 or 4 students. You and your group will use the steps of the PPA process outlined in class. Several resources have been provided for you to conduct your research. Each of you will use the accompanying worksheet to keep track of the PPA process as outlined here:

1. Define the problem. (Our problem has already been defined.)

2. Gather the evidence. (As a group, create a way to collect evidence regarding our cafeteria trash. You will probably want to begin with an interview of our head custodian. Here are some resources for your use.)

Video: Recycling Goes to School Steps for Successful School Recycling Starting a School Recycling Program Recycling in Onondaga County Schools

3. Identify the causes of our school’s problem.

4. Evaluate our school’s existing policy on recycling.

5. Develop at least 3 solutions.

6. Select the best solution based on your effectiveness vs. feasibility matrix.

Evaluation:

You and your group will be scored on each part of the task using the scoring rubric below.

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Collaboration	The team used time well during the collaboration, making sure that all team members had an appropriate task for the project.	The team used time well during some of the collaboration, not always fully utilizing all team members.	The team was off task during some of the collaboration, and each team member was not always working toward project completion.	The team needed frequent teacher re-direction to stay on task and utilize all team members during the collaboration.
PPA Process (Worksheet)	All parts of the PPA worksheet were completed thoroughly and correctly.	Most parts of the PPA worksheet were completely thoroughly and correctly.	Some parts of the PPA worksheet were completed thoroughly and correctly.	Few or none of the parts of the PPA worksheet were completed correctly.
Ideas (Letter)	Ideas were expressed in a clear and organized fashion. It was easy to figure out what the letter was about.	Ideas were expressed in a pretty clear manner, but the organization could have been better.	Ideas were somewhat organized, but were not very clear. It took more than one reading to figure out what the letter was about.	The letter seemed to be a collection of unrelated sentences. It was very difficult to figure out what the letter was about.
Neatness	Letter is typed, clean, not wrinkled, and is easy to read with no distracting error corrections. It was done with pride.	Letter is neatly hand-written, clean, not wrinkled, and is easy to read with no distracting error corrections. It was done with care.	Letter is typed and is crumpled or slightly stained. It may have 1-2 distracting error corrections. It was done with some care.	Letter is typed and looks like it had been shoved in a pocket or locker. It may have several distracting error corrections. It looks like it was done in a hurry or stored improperly.
Grammar and Spelling	Writers make no errors in grammar or spelling.	Writers make 1-2 errors in grammar and/or spelling.	Writers make 3-4 errors in grammar and/or spelling	Writers make more than 4 errors in grammar and/or spelling.
Capitalization and Punctuation	Writers make no errors in capitalization and punctuation.	Writers make 1-2 errors in capitalization and punctuation.	Writers make 3-4 errors in capitalization and punctuation.	Writers make more than 4 errors in capitalization and punctuation.

Conclusion:

The completion of this project has made you and your teammates more aware of a need for recycling cafeteria trash. Cicero Elementary thanks you for your hard work in helping to solve the problem of excessive cafeteria trash, but more importantly, the Earth thanks you.

Standards:

· RI.4.1. Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

· RI.4.2. Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.

· RI.4.7. Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.

· RI.4.9. Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

· RI.4.10. By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4–5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

· W.4.4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

· W.4.6. With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting.

· W.4.7. Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.