Repair and Recycle Campaign
Objective:
In this module, students will discuss the value of repair and the importance of making products repairable and recyclable. Students will create guidelines for repairing and recycling products.
Deliverable:
Campaign materials such as posters, flyers, videos, announcements, etc.
Core Concepts:
Repair
Technical Communication
Recycling
Engineering Design
Standards Correlations:
This activity correlates to the following Next Generation Science Standards. These standards incorporate the Common Core Literacy Standards. This activity may correlate to other standards, but these are the best fit:
NGSS Engineering Design - Performance Expectations:
HS-ETS1-2. Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.
HS-ETS1-3. Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.
Materials:
Computer to access the internet
Supplies to make campaign materials
Procedures:
Activity 1: Understanding Repair and Recycling
Watch iFixit’s mission video or read articles about electronics recycling (see resources below). Discuss the following things about repair and recycling:
What do you do with things that are broken?
What things do you think you should repair? What things do you think you should recycle?
How did you learn what things to throw away versus recycle?
Activity 2: Repairability Report
Have students research how complex things like electronics are recycled and repaired.
Have teams of students discuss what they feel should happen at the end of a device’s life, including reasons why. Have students brainstorm other options, such as donation.
Discuss the end-of-life plan (i.e. what should happen to a device when a user is finished with it, it is no longer useful, or broken) as a class. Decide on a protocol.
Create a repair and recycling plan for your school using the protocol. Have each student group be responsible for a piece of the campaign, including educating other students and faculty about repair and recycling. Create campaign materials (posters, collection bins, video, flyers, announcements, etc.) and share them with your school.
Discussion Topics:
What types of things do we need to be aware of when we start education campaigns to be sensitive to the people we are educating?
How do education campaigns affect our community? Our world?
What can we do as a society to help people make informed decisions? What can we do as individuals to help?
Other Resources:
iFixit.com/right-to-repeair: iFixit’s resources on repair and sustainability
edu.iFixit.com/k12: iFixit’s K-12 education site
Reinventing Repair: iFixit’s mission video about e-waste
nextgenscience.org: Next Generation Science Standards site