Lessons 3 rd and 4 th grade
Since there is a fairly big level difference between grade 3 and 4, I created two different lessons.
They will start with the same basics, but 4th grade will get a trickier craft. I will also tell them more
about the plastic soup. Below, I tell specifically what I made for each lesson.
Lesson 3th grade
For this lesson, I took my basics from the kindergarten lessons and then made them a little trickier
for 3rd grade. For example, instead of the song by Tonky&Jack, I used a song by Kinderen voor
Kinderen. This suits their age more. I also extended the craft, once they finish the fish they also have
to make a background for the fish. This way, they have a trickier lesson than toddlers, but still not
too theoretical.
Lesson 4th grade
I start this lesson with 3rd grades presentation, but this time I will also briefly tell them about the
plastic soup. This way it is still appropriate for their perspective, but I also teach them something
they have probably never heard of before. My goal is to make a new craft though, because the 3rd
grade craft is too easy for them. That's how I came up with the fish where you can open and close
the mouth. Here they can practise both folding and tracing. In addition, they can express their
creativity in the patterns and colours they use to colour the fish.
Lessons 5 th and 6 th grade
With these groups, it was difficult for me to assess the level. For this reason, I searched the internet
for lessons on the plastic soup for grade 5 and 6. I then came across the Plastic Soup Foundatio
n, a non-profit organisation dedicated to stopping the plastic soup. They had lessons ready for
different levels, and after looking at these, I decided to use the lesson for grade 5&6 as the base for
my own lesson. I adapted the slides and information to what I wanted to teach them, but since I had
the lesson as a base, I was able to keep the level just right. I once again started my lesson with the
same question as with the preschoolers: "There is a lot of plastic, what do you all see of plastic in the
classroom?" because so far I find that it is a very good opening question that brings attention to me
and creates interest. For the craft, I used the one from 4th grade, but this time the students also
have to draw the fish themselves, and in the mouth they have to add something made of plastic. I
have drawn a plastic bottle in my example, but they can choose what they want to draw themselves.
In these lessons, there is already quite a bit of theory, but thanks to the craft task, they still stay
interested throughout the lesson.
