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Lesson 3. Put It in a Reusable Bag
Materials
- “Maya Ways of Carrying Things” drawing
A and drawing B downloadable coloring and discussion sheets — to reinforce
the content of the lesson
- A copy of the coloring book for reference
in presenting lesson material. Copies of drawings on pages 10 and 11 may
be distributed to children
- A shoulder
size Maya maguey net and/or cotton bag and an ordinary plastic shopping
bag. A maguey bag from
Guatemala is best, but if such bags are not available, a net bag from another
place or a canvas bag will do. See
Resources for more information
about Maya bags in a Teacher’s
Kit to accompany this lesson
Vocabulary
BIODEGRADE: the process that allows materials to break down into smaller
parts and become part of soil again.
ECOLOGY: the science or study of the pattern of
interrelationships between plants, animals, and their environment or surroundings.
ENVIRONMENT: the condition of the air, water and soil
MAGUEY: a plant with large spiny leaves common throughout Mexico, Central
and South America which yields hard fibers for making rope and bags and other
items.
Activities
1 - How the Maya Use Natural Materials
- Which of the crafts shown in the coloring
book biodegrade when they are worn out or no longer usable? Answer: Because
they are made of natural materials, all of the crafts biodegrade within fifteen
years-- except tinware, glass and glazed pottery.
- What happens if the natural materials
for Maya crafts (or any kind of craft) are over used? For example, if artisans
use too many maguey leaves for making bags ? Answer: A shortage of materials
could mean that the artisan would be unable to continue to make crafts.
2 - Comparing Natural Fiber Bags with Plastic Shopping Bags
Part A - Watch it Biodegrade!
Find out if it possible to bury an old cotton canvas or maguey fiber bag
and a plastic bag on the school grounds side by side. It is very important that
the old bag be of natural fibers — not of petroleum based fibers which
will not biodegrade. This project is adapted from “Biodegrading
In The Wildlands-Can You Dig It?” (see Resources)
that describes the activity as "An
experiment to examine the effects of biodegradation (that) involves burying different
items in the school yard and then examining the changes that take place. Through
this examination you can determine which materials are more and less biodegradable.”)
Part B - Why Use Plastic? Why Use Alternatives?
- Ask children compare carrying a canvas or Maya bag to a plastic one. Is one
more pleasant to carry than the other or are they about the same? What are some
of the reasons?
- Help students to identify other reasons
for choosing to carry groceries in either plastic, paper, cloth or canvas bags.
Include ecological issues of recycling and biodegrading in the discussion.
- Plastic grocery bags are everywhere — in contrast, can it be hard to
find a cloth or canvas shopping bag? Answer: Yes, only
some grocery stores sell them.
- Cloth or canvas bags cost quite a bit of money. Does that
make it harder for them to be used by a lot of people? Answer: Yes, many
people will use the bags that are given to them at the store instead of purchasing
one special bag to use for shopping.
- Do some stores want you to use plastic bags? Answer: Yes. Some stores
print their name in large letters on the side of the plastic bags they give away.
When these bags are used, they become free advertising. Cloth bags that are
reusable generally do not have a store name printed on them.
- Try to estimate how many plastic
bags a year could a family save from being thrown in the land fill if they
regularly use net or cloth bags? Answer: This is hard to calculate precisely
but it is possible reach an estimated number.
- What happens to our plastic bags and other articles when they are no longer
usable? Answer: Some are recycled and many more are put in the garbage.
- Where is
it possible to recycle some kinds of plastic bags ? Answer: Many supermarkets
offer the opportunity to recycle bags.
2 - What Does Another Country Do?
In Ireland, the
government requires stores to ask a deposit of at least ten cents be paid every
time a shopper receives a plastic bag. Officials there wish to have less plastic
litter cluttering streets, roads and fields.
- is this deposit a good idea?
- what could money collected by plastic bag deposits be used for?
- would such a practice stop the littering of plastic bags in our neighborhoods?
- name the places we see plastic litter in our neighborhoods
- what are some of the ways this trash affects our environment and our health?
Assessment
Students should be able to discuss
- the qualities that contrast biodegradable bags and other items with less
ecological ones
- the impact that plastic makes on our lives and our environment
- how biodegrading
works
- why we make the choices we do about what kind of bag to use
Lesson 3 Resources
A Teacher’s Kit from Terra
Experience, a Fair Trade Federation member, includes Maya bags to accompany
this lesson. See Teachers
Resources at www.terraexperience.com.
Books
5
0 Things Kids Can Do To Save the Earth
Available from: The EarthWorks Group, EarthWorks Press,
PO Box 1117,
Ashland, OR 97520
Some sample activities from the book can be found at
www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/enved/EnviroEd/Can_Do/50things.htm
The Bird that Cleaned the World by Victor
Montejo. Curbstone Press,
1992. Contains two ecological moral tales “The Bird that Cleaned the World” and “Who
Cuts the Trees Cuts His own Life” Available from
www.curbstone.org
El Pajaro Que Limpia El Mundo y Otras Fábulas Mayas
/ No’ Ch’ik Xtx’ Ahtx’ En Sat Yib’ Anh Yax Te’.
Original Popti’ Mayan/Spanish version of The Bird that Cleaned the
World by Victor Montejo. Available
from Yax Te’ Books:
www.csuohio.edu/yaxte/books.html Look under Literature and Language Backlist (page includes a downloadable PDF catalog).
Websites
Biodegrading In The Wildlands-Can You Dig It? by Jane Schmidt. Order
by email to jschmid@dupo.stclair.k12.il.us
An on-line version can be found at
http://lewiscenter.org/force/1070/subprojects/Wildlands%20Curriculum/www_biodegrade.htm
Other helpful ideas and projects to teach about the concept
of biodegrading and plastic:
Plastics in the Water: Is That A Yummy Jellyfish
I See?
http://www.beworldwise.org/teachers/plastics_in_water.php
Further information on related books & websites
can be found on the Resources page
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