Talking Trash...Trash Can Contents, That Is Grade Range: 5-8, 9-12 Lesson Objectives Students will: 1. gather and organize information, i.e., trashcan contents. 2. analyze the information to draw conclusions. 3. hypothesize on what would be in the trashcan of a character/person who is important to your subject area. Time Required 45 Minutes Technology and Materials Needed items to serve as contents of a trashcan This activity is meant to encourage students to think about the types of things they throw away and about the ways in which the contents of someone's trash can reveal a lot about that person. Eventually, students will create a connection between a person and his or her trash using a fictional character or perhaps an historical figure. However, in order for students to get to this last part of the lesson (the part that is most strongly related to your subject area), they will need to analyze trash. Ideally, you should put together enough collections of trash contents that groups of 4 - 6 students can have their own collection to analyze. Each collection should have 5 - 10 items of trash in it. If you worry that students may have a difficult time with the abstract nature of this activity, you should consider grouping the collections, so it is obvious if the disposer of the trash is old or young, male or female, and so on. You can also include items that reveal specific character traits. For example, sticky notes can indicate that a person is organized (and what's written on the notes may reveal even more information). At the same time, putting different items together without any planned organization makes the analysis more difficult, but it also encourages greater creativity. Procedures 1. Ask students to share what some of the contents of their trashcan at home would contain. If students have a wastebasket in their bedroom, encourage them to list some of the items in it. Follow up a description of the trashcan's contents with the question: What does this reveal about you? The student may answer this and/or classmates. For example, is there anything that reveals if the person is young or male or female? Are there contents that reveal anything about a hobby or area of interest? 2. Divide students into groups of 4 - 6. Have each group go through a collection of trash, analyzing its contents and drawing conclusion on the disposer of the trash. (If you have only one collection of trash, show the contents and have each group complete the analysis.) Students should brainstorm a short list for each item that hypothesizes what the item might reveal about the person who threw it away. 3. Using their brainstorming lists from Step 2, have students create a character sketch of the owner of the trashcan. That is, they should look at the ideas on their lists and try to match those that complement one another, forming a character who would likely throw away Items A, B, C. 4. Have the groups share their character sketches, presenting the trash collections and their analyses of them. Make sure that students explain their conclusions. 5. Have students reverse the process. That is, have them pick a literary character or historical figure (or provide one for them), and speculate on what would have been in that person's trash. Provide a minimum number of items that students must think of. 6. Ask students to share and defend their lists. Assessment Criteria Did students participate in their group brainstorming? Were students able to connect trash contents with their disposers? Were students able to justify their choices?

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