It's all smiles for "trash"-talking LPS kindergarten students during science lesson

Lincoln Public Schools kindergartners are learning “garbology” terminology this fall during special science presentations in their classrooms.

Hundreds of kindergarten students are connecting science with smiles during garbology lessons. They are discovering the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling as part of the LPS science curriculum.

Mandy Bydalek of the LPS Sustainability Team recently presented a lesson on garbology at Maxey Elementary School. She said it was exciting to share environmental ideas with young students. 
 
“I really enjoy working with kindergartners,” Bydalek said. “They’re a lot of fun to be around and it’s always entertaining. They have a lot of energy and they’re really interested in learning about everything.”

Garbology presentations take place at every LPS elementary school during the first quarter of the academic year. Bydalek said it was important to give students easy ways to connect with the garbology material. The 30-minute lesson features a short video, student-involved activities and several examples of recycled materials.
 
“I think they really enjoy the presentations,” Bydalek said. “They get behind not being a litterbug, and they pick up on the three R’s really quickly. It’s so fun to see them smiling.”

LPS Curriculum Specialist for Science Betsy Barent said garbology has been a critical piece of the LPS science puzzle for many years. She said it was important for elementary students to soak up environmental science concepts in the classroom.
 
“Learning about the place they live in, our environment, is one of the most effective and equitable ways to engage students in learning about science,” Barent said. “This is especially true for young students as they have tangible access and experiences with their environment.”
  
At Maxey, Bydalek showed a video about the Bluff Road landfill before describing what each of the three R’s mean. Students learned they could reduce their environmental footprint by using only one paper towel instead of five. They could reuse water bottles instead of throwing away a plastic cup of water, and they could recycle items such as paper, aluminum, glass and cardboard.
 
Students continued to smile when Bydalek showed them a variety of recycled materials. One example came when she held a box of toy cars in one hand and an empty plastic water bottle in her other hand. They oohed and aahed when Bydalek said the toy cars were made from recycled water bottles.
 
“Things like that are easy connection points for a lot of kids,” Bydalek said. “It’s the same thing when we’re talking about topics like composting. They’ve seen compost piles before, so they know what that is.”
 
Bydalek gave students a chance to get even more involved near the end of the presentation. She invited six of them to the front of the room and handed them different items to display. The entire class then had to choose whether the items should go in the recycling or landfill bins. The six students beamed as they proudly participated in the activity.

Barent, who has served as president of the Nebraska Association of Teachers of Science (NATS), said LPS initially offered garbology classes in second grade. 
 
LPS revised its science curriculum after state officials released new “Nebraska College and Career Ready Science Standards” guidelines in 2017. That’s when the school district shifted its garbology lessons from second grade to kindergarten. 

“Having kindergartners investigate their surroundings and how they can have a positive impact on it sets a strong foundation for exploring their environment more deeply as they get older,” Barent said.

Bydalek meets with members of the Keep Lancaster County Beautiful organization and the City of Lincoln Solid Waste Management Division each summer to plan the garbology curriculum. She visits approximately 20 schools in a 45-day span each fall for her lessons. Her team partners with the two entities to visit the other 20 LPS elementary buildings.
 
Bydalek said the garbology lessons have led to many bright smiles in LPS kindergarten classrooms.
 
“It’s a great way to engage the kids about this,” Bydalek said. “I always have fun because you can see them learning.”

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