Taking care of the earth (social studies)

What questions would you like to ask the students of Tolt Middle School about their recycling club2. It is important to protect the environment and keep it clean.. You probably use a lo

Scott Foresman Reading Street 2.5.4

ISBN 0-328-13303-5

ì<(sk$m)=bddadb< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U

Expository

nonfi ction

• Author’s Purpose

• Draw Conclusions

• Ask Questions

• List

• Headings

• Captions

• Glossary

Suggested levels for Guided Reading, DRA, ™

Lexile, ® and Reading Recovery ™ are provided

in the Pearson Scott Foresman Leveling Guide.

by Jessica Quilty

Scott Foresman Reading Street 2.5.4

ISBN 0-328-13303-5

ì<(sk$m)=bddadb< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U

Expository

nonfi ction

• Author’s Purpose

• Draw Conclusions

• Ask Questions

• List

• Headings

• Captions

• Glossary

Suggested levels for Guided Reading, DRA, ™

Lexile, ® and Reading Recovery ™ are provided

in the Pearson Scott Foresman Leveling Guide.

by Jessica Quilty

1 Why do you think the author of this

book wrote about pollution?

2 Reread pages 10–11 What questions

would you like to ask the students of Tolt Middle School about their recycling club? Use a graphic organizer like the one below to brainstorm

3 If you show respect for the

environment, are you more likely to recycle or leave litter? Explain

4 This book speaks of groups, clubs,

communities, and friends working to protect the environment Why do you think that working with others seems

to be important?

Reader Response

Tolt Recycling Program

T

Care of the

Earth

by Jessica Quilty

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3

Do you ever recycle? Maybe you drop

your empty juice bottles in the recycling bin Maybe you put out newspapers each week for recycling

These are both ways to protect the environment The environment is the natural world around you Land, water, and air are all part of the

environment It is important to protect the environment and keep it clean

Have you seen recycling bins like these in your community?

Protecting the Land

On an ordinary day, the average person in the United States throws away

about three pounds of garbage Some

of this trash is recycled, but most of it is

taken to a landfill A landfill is a special

place designed to hold garbage Every

day the landfill is covered with six inches

of dirt, to keep it clean and to make

sure the garbage cannot blow away

Seagulls try to get food scraps

from this landfill before everything

is covered with dirt.

5

When they are filled up, landfills are covered with more dirt, planted with grass and trees, and are often turned into parks or recreation areas Landfills were first started because people

wanted to protect the land However, there are many people who are worried that, if we produce too much garbage,

we will run out of the kinds of places that are good for landfills

Much of the trash that goes into landfills could have been recycled or reused If we are careful about what

we throw away, we will not run out of space for landfills

You probably use a lot of paper, metal, plastic, and glass at home and

at school Instead of throwing these

things away, think of ways to reuse

or recycle them

You can reuse cardboard, paper, and newspaper for art and craft projects

Instead of buying gift wrapping paper,

you could make your own Decorate old

brown paper shopping bags to make

book covers Aluminum cans can be

made into pencil holders or lanterns

Some artists use recycled scrap metal to

create beautiful art

7

Of course, you can’t reuse everything yourself That is why recycling is so

important—other people can reuse things you can’t

Plastic, such as old toys or empty bottles, can be recycled into many useful things Sometimes, they may simply

become new bottles, but they can also be turned into furniture, building materials, and speed bumps on the road

Aluminum is another good thing to recycle All those aluminum cans can be melted down and made into new cans

This playground equipment

is made from recycled plastic.

Glass is a special type of material that can be recycled over and over

again Old glass containers should be

put in special recycling bins Old glass

can be made into new bottles and jars

Glass can be crushed into very small pieces Sometimes these pieces are

mixed with paint to make the paint

reflective or shiny

Reflective paint made with

bits of glass helps drivers

travel safely on the road.

9

Recycled glass is also used to make building materials Glass is used in insulation Insulation keeps a house warm in the winter and cool in the summer Bricks and roof tiles also can be made with recycled glass

Sometimes recycled glass is used

by artists to create beautiful pieces of jewelry Before you throw away a glass bottle next time, think about what it could become if it were recycled!

Recycling is one of the best ways to protect the land in your community It reduces the need for so many landfills If everyone recycled, we would only need half the landfill space we now use!

A Community Takes Action

Students and employees at Tolt Middle School in Carnation, Washington,

decided to do something to clean up

the school and protect the environment

They started a recycling club

At lunchtime, members of the

club picked up litter from the school

grounds They set up containers for

paper, plastic, and glass By recycling,

the school produced much less garbage

They also helped solve another big

problem—litter The recycling club was a

success!

11

Students and teachers at other schools heard about the Tolt Middle School recycling club These schools decided to start recycling too

Now schools all over the country have recycling programs Each day students collect juice boxes, bottles, cans, paper, and plastic Many of these objects are sent to recycling plants Others are cleaned by the students so they can be reused Reusing or recycling makes less garbage for landfills

Students all around the country have started recycling clubs.

Protecting the Water

Water is important We can’t live without it! There are two ways we need

to protect our water: keep it clean and

don’t waste it

Pollution is one problem People

dump their garbage in the water or do

other things to make the water dirty

and unsafe Big cities and factories can

be a source of pollution, but so can a

careless person who dumps trash in the

water

Wasting water is a problem because

it takes a lot of work to make water

clean enough to drink and use in our

homes If we waste this cleaned water, it

may not be there when we need it

13

A Community Takes Action

At one school, students and teachers collected rainwater for their garden

This way, they needed to take from the faucet only half the amount of water that they normally used!

One community decided to adopt a lake Children and adults took charge of

keeping the lake clean

They removed litter from the water and the shore This made the area beautiful and kept animals from being harmed

by the trash

In another community two students learned their neighborhood stream was

being polluted A factory was dumping

dangerous chemicals, and people were

throwing old tires into the water

The students learned everything they could about cleaning up a polluted

stream They told many people about

the problem The students wrote letters

to local newspapers They got everyone

in the community to work together to

clean up the stream

Trash thrown in this lake has washed up on shore.

15

Protecting the Air

Pollution can be a problem for the air too Smog is a word that was made

by combining the words smoke and fog It describes air that is so dirty you

can see it

Many things contribute to making smog, including fires, too many cars, and some factories In most places, people can no longer burn leaves in the fall because it contributes to smog

The next time you want to go somewhere close to home, ride your bike instead of asking someone to drive Driving less helps too

Many people in the United States are working to protect the environment, and there are many success stories Places that were polluted a few years ago are now clean and safe But there is still a lot of work

to do if we want to continue to protect the environment

What Can I Do?

There are many things you can do

to show your respect for Earth and the

environment You can start at home

• Don’t throw away things that you can reuse Turn scrap paper and

packaging into art projects!

• Reuse plastic bags and containers whenever you can, and recycle when

you can’t

• Make sure you don’t leave the water running too long

• Teach your family about the importance of recycling

• Tell friends why it is important to not leave litter behind

• Start a recycling club of your own!

Work with your neighbors, parents,

teachers, and classmates

17

Friendships can be a great way to

build a recycling club or team You and your friends can collect bottles, cans, and plastic to recycle

When you play outdoors or go on field trips, leave beaches, lakes, and rivers clean Don’t litter!

Read books about other ways to help out Figure out how you can use your

interests to protect the environment

When you work together with your friends and family, you can make a real difference in your community!

Recycling or reusing scrap material helps protect Earth.

Now Try This

Paper Bag Art

You can do many things to protect the environment Reusing old paper

in creative ways is one of those things

Next time you get a brown paper bag

from the grocery store, turn

it into some fun wrapping paper

19

1 Use scissors to cut the bag apart so that you have two large rectangular pieces

2 Use markers, crayons, or stamps

to decorate the paper

3 Use your wrapping paper to wrap

a gift!

You can make lots of other things out

of used paper bags Try making:

• masks

• place mats

• bookmarks Think up other ideas with your friends and family

Her e’s H ow to D o It!

relationships you

have with friends

you like doing or

are curious about

place where trash is

taken and covered

up

scattered about;

scattered trash

anything that dirties the environment

treat or process something so that it can be used again

attitude toward things

Glossary

1 Why do you think the author of this

book wrote about pollution?

2 Reread pages 10–11 What questions

would you like to ask the students of Tolt Middle School about their recycling club? Use a graphic organizer like the one below to brainstorm

3 If you show respect for the

environment, are you more likely to recycle or leave litter? Explain

4 This book speaks of groups, clubs,

communities, and friends working to protect the environment Why do you think that working with others seems

to be important?

Reader Response

Tolt Recycling Program