The Blue Dragon
Programme 5: What a Waste

Aims

This programme aims to introduce to children ideas about disposal of everyday waste, litter and recycling. It provides an opportunity for developing children's ideas about personal responsibility in looking after the environment.

Outline

The programme opens with the characters walking through a wooded area with a stream. They come across a clearing with rubbish left by humans and an area burned because people did not make sure that their campfire was out. They are cross that people are so careless and collect the rubbish and think about how to dispose of it. The animals come across a baby deer that was separated from its family as the fire spread. As they try to find her family Cinders notices a van with a blue dragon on the side. She goes after it and finds herself stuck inside a rubbish truck. Twiggy the bear joins Cinders, and they find themselves in a waste disposal depot. Once they rejoin their friends each of the animals thinks about how they could recycle different pieces of waste. Eventually they continue their search for the deer's parents and finally find them.

Curriculum Relevance

The programme explores:

sorting different kinds of 'clean waste';
recycling clean waste;
thinking about responsibility towards the environment;
thinking about the consequences of actions on the environment.

There are many curriculum links that can be made, for example:

Design and technology – make new things from 'found materials'.
Art – use a range of different materials to create a collage.
Literacy – create 'Our Countryside Code': a set of instructions on how do behave in the countryside.

Background

Waste is a major environmental issue. Many local authorities are having to find alternatives to placing rubbish in landfill sites because of European legislation. Some have their own schemes to encourage householders to sort waste. Most household waste can be recycled, including many types of plastic. Householders are often asked to place their rubbish in different containers according to the type of material, such as plastic, glass, metals and paper.

Activities

Have a class picnic and arrange for different groups of children to work throughout the day, using the help of other adults in the classroom to create food and drink for a picnic in the afternoon.

Make a table-top display with mini-bins for children to sort different materials, for example a bin for plastic, and a bin for paper. Each day put new things out to sort, for example: