Teachers’ notes – Paperless school
Synopsis
The final activity in this unit encourages learners to explore how and why paper is used in
school and to consider the consequences of reducing the amount used. Initially, learners
explore different ways paper is used in school, before undertaking a quantitative consideration
of how much paper they use in school. Learners plan and carry out an enquiry to find out how
much paper the school uses in one term and consider how the school and people within it
might benefit from reducing the amount of paper it uses. They identify some of the ways
people use paper and generate alternatives that could result in a reduction in paper usage,
considering the pros and cons of each suggestion. Learners explore ideas about which groups
of people connected to the school could be targeted in a campaign for reduced paper usage
and rank order the groups according to likely impact. They plan and carry out a campaign to
reduce paper use in school and generate ideas about how they could persuade other schools
to run a similar campaign about reducing paper use. Learners explore the consequences and
possible environmental impact of reducing the amount of paper schools use.
Curriculum links
The sustainable Earth:
3. a comparison of the features and properties of some natural and made materials
4. the properties of materials relating to their uses
5. how some materials are formed or produced
Skills
Communication: 1, 2 & 3
Enquiry – Planning: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7
Enquiry – Developing: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7
Enquiry – Reflecting: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6
Activities
Tab 1
The aim of this tab is for learners to explore the different ways
paper is used in school. The tab provides a loop of images of
children using paper in different ways. Learners share and
discuss ideas and should be encouraged to think of ways they
use paper in their own school.
Tab 2
Learners move from a qualitative discussion to a quantitative
consideration of how much paper they use in school. They
estimate paper usage and are encouraged to use their estimates
to make further predictions about use over different periods of
time.
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Tab 3
The aim of this tab is for learners to plan, carry out and reflect
upon an enquiry such as – How much paper does school use in
one term? They should consider how such an enquiry should be
approached so that it could result in a reliable estimate of paper
use.
Tab 4
The aim of this tab is for learners to consider how the school,
teachers and learners might benefit from reducing the amount of
paper it uses. Rollover questions support discussion and sharing
of ideas.
Tab 5
Learners identify the different ways that people use paper. They
generate ideas of other ways people might do the same thing
that would result in a reduction in paper usage. They are
encouraged to consider the pros and cons of each idea.
Tab 6
The aim of this tab is for learners to consider which groups of
people that are connected to the school could be targeted in a
campaign to reduce paper usage. They diamond rank the ideas
according to where they think there might be the most impact on
paper use.
Tab 7
Learners plan and carry out a campaign to reduce paper use in
school. They consider prior knowledge about running campaigns
and determine success for what makes a successful campaign.
They reflect by considering how they could measure the success
of their campaign.
Tab 8
The aim of this tab is for learners to generate ideas about how
they could persuade other schools to run a similar campaign
about reducing paper use. They use a Placemat activity to
encourage discussion and justification of ideas.
Tab 9
The aim of the final tab is for learners to explore the
consequences and possible environmental impact of many
schools reducing the amount of paper they use.
They are asked to imagine they have persuaded schools to
reduce the amount of paper they use and to explore how the
environment might benefit from their success.
Learners might consider the effects on local and national
environments.