Extraction, Production, Distribution, Consumption, and Disposal of Products

Students are surrounded by “stuff” – from blue jeans to the latest cell phone – in their everyday lives. Pique your students’ natural interest in stuff with interdisciplinary, standards-aligned lessons that will build 21st century skills and engage them in a high-interest and relevant real-world topic. Buy, Use, Toss? A Closer Look at the Things We Buy is a free, two-week unit on consumption and product lifecycles.

This unit is correlated with science and social studies and will lead your students through an exploration of the system of producing and consuming goods that is called the materials economy. Students will learn about the five major steps of the materials economy; Extraction, Production, Distribution, Consumption, and Disposal. They will also be asked to analyze the sustainability of these steps, determining how consumption can benefit people, economies, and environments.

Grades: 9-12

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