EDUCATION

The Wood County Solid Waste Management District offers presentations, tours, and
resources for all ages and sizes of groups.  Contact us for more information.

PRESENTATIONS

Many presentations are available. Below are listed a sampling of our most popular. The length of the presentation varies depending on which presentation you select, the age group, and your needs. We are available for multiple presentations.

Contact us at 419-354-9297 or by email at wcswmd@wcnet.org for more information!

Amanda Gamby, Environmental Educator

Erica Bruielly, Education Assistant

 

• Edible Landfills & Trashology 101
  Food items are used to construct a BAT (Best Available Technology) landfill,
  then the students are able to eat it!

• The Wartville Wizard (littering)
  Students will color stick hand puppets from the book The Wartville Wizard then
  read the book in an interactive story telling session.

• The Happy Recyclables
  Young learners will hear about the basics of recycling as recyclables come to life
  (milk jug, tin can, aluminum beverage can, etc.).

• Paper Making
  Students will take old, used paper and create new, handmade paper products to
  make useable items such as writing paper, jewelry, art projects, or seed packets.

• Little Hands Help the Earth
  A playground scene with attached litter, children will sort and separate the garbage
   with regard to recycling, reusing, reducing, and composting issues.

• A Fish Called Willy
  How can we help the environment? Willy, a pretend fish, lives in a nice clean world
  of water. Then Willy's world is trashed. For the primary grades, litter makes Willy's
  world dirty. For the intermediate grades, various pollutants are used to simulate how
  the world is affected by how and where we dispose of our trash. The "Happy Recyclables"
  are also introduced.

• Earth Balls
  Participants will change liquid ingredients into a solid polymer (plastic) ball, which will
  represent the Earth. Throughout this activity, there will be discussion on ways to help
  our environment and preserve the Earth.

• Home Safe Home
  Home Safe Home is an informative presentation about the possible hazards of using chemical cleaners in the home.  It offers safe alternatives to common household cleaners with cleaning recipes made from inexpensive ingredients such as baking soda and lemon juice.  The presentation includes demonstrations and the opportunity to make home-friendly toothpaste and/or bath salts, as well as several take home guides and information sheets. 

• Newspaper Pots
  A presentation that promotes recycling and reuse by allowing children to make their own flower pots of out of old newspaper.  Educational handouts and displays on decomposition are available for use with the project. 

• Michael Recycle
  Pre-K - 2nd grade students read the book/poem "Michael Recycle," and discuss the benefits of recycling and waste reduction.  After the book reading and discussion, the presentation concludes with a craft project to supplement the book.  Students use old newspapers to make hats and capes similar to the ones that Michael wears in the book.  There is also an option for the Can Cruncher to be used for a craft project as well.  Students can crush aluminum pop cans and make necklaces out of them.

LOAN BOXES

This is an exciting new program for us! We've taken our most popular presentations and packaged them up for you to be used at your pace and at your convenience. We'll even drop them off at your school! We'll deliver a box, ready with all the supplies, visuals, and information that you need, on Monday and pick it up on Friday. We do ask a two (2) week advance notice so that we have plenty of time to pack a box for you. If you need more than one week, ask about arrangements! Below are the loan boxes we have available, and more are coming soon.

• Edible Landfills

• The Wartville Wizard (littering)

• Little Hands Help the Earth

LENDING LIBRARY

We have an extensive book and video library ready to assist you with your environmental education. From children's books to grownup resources to a wide selection of fun and educational activities, you can find it here! Our videos range from the very short to as-much-as-you-ever-wanted-to-know long! All materials are available to be checked out, and we can help you find what you're looking for - even if you don't know what it is yet! Just a few titles are listed below.

BOOKS

• The Wartville Wizard by Don Madden

• The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

• It's Not My Job by Ted Lish and Charles Jordan

• Worms Eat My Garbage! by Mary Appelhof

• A Slice of Organic Life by Sheherazade Goldsmith

• Basic Composting by Eric Ebeling

• The Down-To-Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon

• Let it Rot by Stu Campbell

• The Naturally Clean Home by Karyn Siegel-Maier

• The Rodale Book of Composting by Deborah Martin and Grace Gurshuny

• 356 Ways to Save the Earth by Philippe Bourseiller

• Wiggling Worms at Work by Wendy Pfeffer

• The Magic School Bus Gets Recyled by Anne Capeci

NEW - JUST IN!

• The Safe Shopper's Bible by David Steinman & Samuel Epstein

• Green Up Your Cleanup by Jill Potvin Schoff

• Michael Recycle by Ellie Bethel

VIDEOS

• Mister Roger's Neighborhood:  The Environment & Recycling

• Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

• From the History Channel, Modern Marvels:  Garbage

• Earth Day

• Bill Nye the Science Guy:  Pollution Solutions
  
  NEW - JUST IN

• An Inconvenient Truth:  A Global Warning

GAMES

• Toss the Trash!

WINDOWS ON WASTE (W.O.W.)

WOW is an elementary, interdisciplinary, environmental studies activity guidebook published by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Recycling & Litter Prevention (ODNR/DRLP) to help educators teach students about solid waste and environmental issues. Lessons were thoroughly developed and tested with the help of educators from across the state. We are available to conduct WOW workshops, which makes available the entire WOW guidebook on CD-Rom. If you're interested in holding a WOW workshop, contact us for dates and times available.

We also have available numerous other environmental education activity and lesson guides. Just call us for more details.