Fermi-task: plastic bottle waste in school extrapolations

Students

• can collect and analyze data.
• can interpret results in context and draw conclusions for their personal lives.
• can prove that drinking water in glass bottles can save money.
• can argue why drinking water is beneficial for both health and the environment.

Regarding math:

• Pupils can perform basic arithmetic operations with natural numbers in everyday applications.
• Students can justify the limits of arithmetic in the natural number set and the need for an extended number set (for subtraction and division).

1 lesson for creating the project plan

Longer period for collecting

2 lessons for counting the plastic bottles, calculating and evaluating the data

1 lesson for interpreting the results and raising awareness of ecological, economic and health aspects

Access to plastic bottle waste (ideally separate collection bin).

Topic: Collection and analysis of data on plastic bottle consumption and the benefits of drinking water

1. Collect and count the plastic bottles:

After a short introduction and explanation, the children consider how, when and where they would like to carry out the collection. It is a good idea to choose another class of average size and track the plastic bottle consumption over a certain period (e.g. one week by counting the plastic bottles in the designated garbage can).

2. Counting the plastic bottles, calculating and evaluating the data:

The plastic bottles collected are counted. Calculations can then be carried out and a selection of the following questions can be answered:

• How many bottles is that per month?
• How many bottles per school year?
• How many bottles does the whole school consume in a week/month/school year?
• How much does a pupil consume on average?
• (Possible extension for higher grades à Fermi task: How many bottles are there in all local schools? How many schools are there in my locality/country?)

3. Interpretation of the results and sensitization of the ecological, economic and health aspects:

The results are now interpreted. This phase can be organized in a variety of ways: Group discussions, expert panel, frontal teaching, ... The following questions can serve as orientation:

• What costs are incurred by the purchase of plastic bottles at the school?
• What are the costs of buying plastic bottles for one person?
• How could savings be made?
• Does a glass bottle pay off? From when?
• How much could you save by buying a glass bottle once and reusing it?
• Are there any health benefits?
• How much sugar do we “save”?
• What impact does buying plastic bottles have on the environment?
• How much waste is produced by plastic bottles?
• (Possible extension for higher classes à Fermi task: Calculate the volume of waste at school/in my town/country?)

Maths - Competence area 1: Numbers and measures

• interpret, represent and compare natural numbers and non-negative decimals and fractions.
• carry out and interpret arithmetical operations with natural numbers and non-negative decimals; carry out rough calculations.

Maths - Competence area 4: Data and chance

• collect, organize, present and read data from different forms of presentation.

Photo fromAaron Lefler on Unsplash