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Recycling Mobile Phones & Organising a Muster
Download PDF - Education - Primary Activity 1.pdf
Key Learning Areas
This resource has been designed to highlight relevant curriculum profiles for middle and upper primary schools.
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Studies of Society and the Environment
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Resources
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Use of resources Management and enterprise
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Natural and Social Systems
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Natural systems Economic Systems
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Science
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Life and Living
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Living together Structure and function Biodiversity, change and continuity
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Natural and Processed Materials
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Materials and their uses Structure and properties
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The Arts
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Visual Arts
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Presenting
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Objectives
By the end of this activity students will:
- Understand why and how mobile phones are recycled.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the environmental benefits of recycling mobile phones and how the recycling process works.
Background
Over 90% of the materials in mobile phones, batteries and accessories can be recovered and used as raw materials in the manufacture of new products. While everything in a mobile phone is solid state (i.e. there are no moving parts or liquids that can be released in normal use), they do contain small amounts of potentially hazardous substances, which if mismanaged at the end of its life can harm the environment.
Activity
Introduction
Introduce the topic by asking students the following questions and discussing their answers:
- Ask students if they or someone in there family owns a mobile phone?
- Ask students if they have ever seen old mobile phones lying around the home?
- Do they know what to do with old mobile phone?
- Do they think mobile phones could be recycled?
The environmental impact of mobile phones
- Explain to students that if mobile phones are not recycled they could have a harmful affect on the environment. Highlight the following points:
- Using a handset is harmless until it is thrown into the landfill
- Handsets and batteries in landfill may leach heavy metals into the soil and groundwater.
- A nickel cadmium rechargeable battery in a mobile phone is particularly hazardous because of the high toxicity of cadmium.
- Mobile phones are not biodegradable.
- Ask students to complete Worksheet 1: MobileMuster Find a Word and write a paragraph on the reasons why it is important to recycle mobile phones making sure they include at least eight words in the Find a Word puzzle. The paragraph should include the following points:
- prevent pollution and protect our environment.
- minimise solid and hazardous waste going to landfill.
- recover resources to manufacture new products.
- reduce the need to use raw materials and save our natural resources.
The recycling process
- Explain to the students that over 90% of the materials in mobile phones can be recovered and used as raw materials for new products. Take students through the MobileMuster Poster: What happens to recycled mobiles? and discuss the new products that can be made from mobile phones, for example:
- Batteries include nickel to make stainless steel and cobalt and cadmium to make new batteries.
- Circuit boards include small amounts of gold and silver that is used in jewellery and other applications.
- Handset housings and casings include plastics that are shredded and used to make fence posts and pallets.
- Accessories and chargers include plastics and metals that are shredded, sorted and then used to make new plastic or metal products.
- Depending on the age and ability of students, ask them to write a story or draw a comic strip from the point of view of a mobile phone that goes through the recycling journey. Ask students to think about the following when developing their story or comic strip:
- What type of mobile phone were they at the beginning?
- Did they have any special features?
- What is their favourite ring tone?
- Who is their owner?
- How do they feel when they get old and can no longer be used?
- What is it like when they go to the recycling facility?
- What new and exciting products are they made into?
- How do they feel about being made into a new product instead of being left in a drawer?
- Ask students to present their story or comic strip to the class.
Organise a MobileMuster
The MobileMuster program collects and recycles mobile phone handsets, batteries and accessories from a network of over 1900 mobile phone retailers, local council, government agencies and business drop off points across Australia. The recycling service is free to consumers and the organisations that collect phones on behalf of AMTA.
- Prior to running a muster the teacher will need to register with AMTA to receive collection units, tools to help promote your muster (e.g. template media releases, fact sheets, brochures, posters, stickers, screensaver, mouse mats) and to organize free pick ups. You can also promote your muster on the MobileMuster website. Contact AMTA on 02 8920 3555 or 1300 730 070 during business hours or register online.
- Introduce students to the concept of MobileMuster by visiting the website and watching the educational video "Where do the old mobiles go?" which looks at how the phones are collected and recycled. After viewing the video ask students the following questions
- What are some of the activities we can do on our mobile phones these days?
- What is the estimated number of old mobile phones we are hoarding?
- What new products are the mobile phone batteries turned into?
- What new products are the mobile phone plastics turned into?
- What is the MobileMuster slogan?
- To prepare for the muster ensure that students undertake the following activities:
- Decide how the muster will take place? If the muster will run over a month or be undertaken on a specific day.
- Where will the collection bins be placed? What is a visible and secure area for them to be displayed and stored for the duration of the muster.
- What goals have been set on how many mobile phones could be collected? Perhaps students could undertake a survey on how many old mobile phones they have in their home.
- To publicise the muster you may want to run a poster competition. As part of the competition ask students to incorporate the MobileMuster character "Milton" and the slogan "Round 'em up and hand 'em in!". Other ways that students can publicise the event include writing articles for the school newsletter, sending an article to the local newspaper and announcing the event at the school assembly.
- Following the event ask students to discuss its success. Some discussion questions include:
- Were the goals reached?
- Will the muster be an ongoing annual event?
- How could you improve the muster?
Worksheet 1: Mobilemuster Find a Word
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Accessories, Battery, Carrier, Consumer, Disposal, Encourage, Handset, Landfill, Manufacturer, Mobilemuster, Recovery, Recycle, Reduce, Retailer, Reuse, Stewardship, Sustainability, Voluntary, Waste. |
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