Two 40-minute class periods (one for designing the game and one for playing the game and discussion).

Students brainstorm ideas for board game formats. Then student teams design, create and test games in which players must think of alternative uses (recycling) for used products.

Environmental engineers are continually designing new ways to protect our environment and improving on recycling techniques. Recycling is a great way to reuse items so that less waste is put into landfills and is important for materials that are difficult or costly to obtain. game group natural resources non-renewable resources recycle recycling resources How to think creatively to reduce waste products. Board game design techniques. How to work cooperatively in a group. poster board markers spinner (can be made out of thumb tack and paper) dice (optional) game pieces (can be made out of bottle caps) tacks construction paper ruler Earth is running out of space in its landfills and our non-renewable resources are being depleted! How can we reuse some of our garbage so that we begin to throw away less? Natural resources are the materials in our environment that are used to make products (for example, wood from trees to make paper). Non-renewable resources are those materials that cannot be replaced by natural ecological cycles or sound management procedures (for example, oil, plastics). Recycling is using a product more than once so that natural resources can be saved and so that we won't need so many garbage dumps and landfills. There are different ways to recycle. One way is to find a different use for a product. For example, we can use empty cans as pencil holders. Another way to recycle is to use heat, chemicals, bacteria or pressure to break a product down into its basic materials, and then reform these materials into a similar or different product. Gather materials. (optional) Make a game to show students as an example (see Figure 1). Introduce the Topic: Discuss recycling and different objects that are recycled. Brainstorm ideas for recycled materials. Some examples are plastic/foam cups, old tires, old clothes, egg carton, cardboard tubes, milk cartons, milk jugs, paper bags, baby food jars, shoe boxes, bottle caps, jar lids, etc. Group students and have them come up with as many different board games as they can. Once they have created lists, have groups sort their lists into categories such as dice, spinner or cards. On the board, document all of the different types of games that the students thought of. Optional: Demonstrate a game that the teacher made in advance. An example game format might be a spinner board game. On their turns, students spin the spinner, which is labeled with numbers, and move the indicated number of spaces. Each space is labeled with a used product. As the students land on the spaces, they must think of an alternative use for the product or go back to their previous space. The first to reach the end wins. Activity: Divide the class into teams of three or four students each. Have each group develop a list of ideas for materials that can be recycled and reused. Have each group design and build a board game. The games may be any type of game as long as they incorporate the idea of finding alternative uses for the materials that they listed. The games must include instructions. After each team has designed and built their game have the class switch games between groups and play another team's game. What different uses for used materials could you think of? How can used products be reused? Why do we need to recycle? Which board game did you like the most? Why? What game did you find the most challenging? Why? Rubric for Performance Assessment (doc) Rubric for Performance Assessment (pdf) Kessler, James H. and Andrea Bennett. The Best of WonderScience: Elementary Science Activities. Boston: Delmar Publishers. 1997. ISBN: 0827380941 pg. 220, 222.