Where Did You Come From? Where Did You Go? Where Did You Come From Compostable Food?

Kids ask many questions... The who, what, when, where, and why of it all. In turn I asked my fourth graders a question: "Where does our food go when we don't compost it?" Blank stares flooded the room. Alright, I'll give them a nudge into the right direction; "Has anyone heard of a landfill?" Eyes opened and hands shot up. Okay, cool. We are getting somewhere. I picked a hand and quickly prompted the notorious "what" question. Tongues dried up. I see, I see. I asked them to get paper and pencils out. On each paper I requested that the students draw what they thought a landfill looked like and write one to two sentences discussing the purpose of a landfill. In this 5 minute assignment each student was able to probe their minds of the whats and whys of a landfill without the risk of Treacherous Embarrassment. A few moments passed and hands began to slow down. With answers ready to go and a feeling of readiness in each student, I asked again: "Would any like to share what they think a landfill looks like and what it does?" Hands returned with minds prepared to share and listen. As each volunteer came up to share their drawings and sentences, the class respectively heard the thoughts of those who presented. While their answers were not always spot on, their confidence glowed off of their papers and onto their faces, ready for the world to hear them.

We continued to discuss how landfills are not all good or all bad. Just like everything, landfills have limits and balance. We discussed the alternatives to landfills, like incineration and the pros and cons of the other options as well. Of course we returned to the concept of composting... A sustainable road to conservation! Reducing, reusing, and recycling are the base of most conservative efforts to help our planet. It just takes planning and acknowledgement of all of our options.

P.S.

Most of these posts are not about just the content I share with these students. They are about the things I learn from them. They are about our shared growth. Sometimes the way we learn trumps what we learn.