Students will investigate how school waste affects matter cycling, Earth systems, and local ecosystem health, then use audit data and local sorting rules to identify a harmful waste problem. Working with district sustainability staff and local environmental partners, teams will design, test, critique, and revise a practical waste-sorting system with clear bins, labels, and educational materials. Students will revisit ecosystem models and reflect after audits and prototype tests to explain how their evidence and ideas changed. They will demonstrate learning through a before-and-after exhibit, a scientific explanation, and interactive sorting stations for the school community.

Students will explain how Earth’s systems, solar energy, and matter cycling support local ecosystems and how improperly managed waste can disrupt these relationships. Students will classify common school waste using local recycling, compost, and landfill rules, then collect and analyze audit data to identify a priority waste problem. Students will use evidence to design, test, critique, and revise an accessible waste-sorting system with clear bins, labels, and educational materials. Students will communicate how their solution protects resources and ecosystem health through models, data, reflection, and a live or recorded demonstration for the school community and community partners.

Teams will create a school waste-audit chart and revise ecosystem models to show how common waste affects matter cycling and local ecosystem health. They will build and test a prototype sorting station with color-coded bins, locally accurate labels, pictures, and simple directions, then revise it using feedback from peers, custodians, and community partners. Final products will include a usable waste-sorting system, posters or quick-reference guides, and a before-and-after exhibit connecting audit evidence to environmental impacts. Students will also prepare a live or recorded demonstration for the Waste Wise Expo or Recycle Right Celebration that teaches the school community how and why to sort waste correctly.

Launch with a “Sorting Lab Safari” where teams classify clean, teacher-prepared examples of common school waste into recycling, compost, and landfill bins using local rules. A district sustainability director and an I Love a Clean San Diego coordinator then introduce the schoolwide challenge, explain local ecosystem impacts, and answer questions about sorting. Students compare their choices with expert guidance, identify confusing items, and record questions sparked by the essential question: “How can we design a waste-sorting solution for our school that helps the local ecosystem?” Close by revisiting forest and rural ecosystem models to predict how incorrectly sorted waste could disrupt matter cycling across Earth’s systems.

Host a Waste Wise Expo and Recycle Right Celebration for younger classes, staff, families, custodians, and community partners. Teams present before-and-after waste audit data, demonstrate their prototype sorting stations, and use ecosystem models to explain how correct sorting reduces harm to local matter cycles. Visitors practice sorting sample school waste, use student-created guides and signs, and provide feedback on clarity and accuracy. Conclude by inviting the district recycling coordinator and local environmental nonprofit to recognize effective designs and identify solutions the school can implement.