Trading textiles is a lesson plan built for students to reflect on the impact of the textile industry and the affects on our environment and options they could implement in order to diverting textile waste from landfills.
In small groups students will choose a piece of clothing to trace back to its country of origin. Once they identified the country, they will be asked to do research following a geography detective worksheet.
The main activity in this lesson is to hold a Clothing Swap and Eco-Fashion Show in the school. This will help students realize that someone’s trash can easily become someone else’s treasure and there are alternative ways to dispose of our waste.
The lesson includes a post activity, where learners use infographics to demonstrate their understanding of how to divert textile waste from landfills.
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
There is mention of a video to support the lesson, but that video is no longer available. Although other videos on the site mentioned could easily be used.
Learners will implement age appropriate actions that demonstrate responsibility as global citizens when looking at the sustainability goals like the 3 R’s. This resource also supports Science learning units that are exploring topics related to sustainability and environmental issues. The unit could also provide a discussion topic for Social Studies outcomes related to child labour and poverty, depending on their findings during the research piece.
The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.
Principle | Rating | Explanation |
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Consideration of Alternative Perspectives | Good | The resource promotes a particular message about clothing and helps students understand who makes our clothes, where they are made and how as well as what happens to our clothes once we no long want them. Students have a choice to try and change their consumption in order to help our planet. |
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives:
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Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions | Good | The resource encourages students to consider the problems and possible solutions to landfills and the affects this has on our environment. This has a reference to:
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Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions: Effectively addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the issue(s) being explored.
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Respects Complexity | Good | |
Respects Complexity: The complexity of the problems/issues being discussed is respected. | ||
Acting on Learning | Very Good | The resource includes three activities designed to help students make positive changes in their consumption and waste management. Students will be actively participating in the clothing swap and have the opportunity to continue this in their future and share the movement with the community. |
Acting on Learning: Learning moves from understanding issues to working towards positive change — in personal lifestyle, in school, in the community, or for the planet
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Values Education | Good | Since the students are major consumers in the clothing industry, ethical issues related to that industry have a direct link to their lives. The resource helps students realize that the choices they make have real consequences for others and the environment this will also ask them to examine their values. |
Values Education: Students are explicitly provided with opportunities to identify, clarify and express their own beliefs/values. | ||
Empathy & Respect for Humans | Satisfactory | There is some aim of the lesson plan that is created to reflect and have empathy for people living in other countries. |
Empathy & Respect for Humans: Empathy and respect are fostered for diverse groups of humans (including different genders, ethnic groups, sexual preferences, etc.). | ||
Personal Affinity with Earth | Good | The focus of the lesson plans is to reduce waste and find alternative ways to dispose of clothing. |
Personal Affinity with Earth: Encourages a personal affinity with -the natural world.
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Locally-Focused Learning | Good | |
Locally-Focused Learning: Includes learning experiences that take advantage of issues/elements within the local community.
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Past, Present & Future | Good | |
Past, Present & Future: Promotes an understanding of the past, a sense of the present, and a positive vision for the future. |
Principle | Rating | Explanation |
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Open-Ended Instruction | Good | The resource combines elements of directed learning (examination of clothing labels) that then includes a guided research piece. Students still have some open-ended instruction when looking at what they choose to research and how they will present their findings to the group. |
Open-Ended Instruction
: Lessons are structured so that multiple/complex answers are possible; students are not steered toward one 'right' answer. | ||
Integrated Learning | Good | The resource has relevance for a number of curriculum areas
Studies/Ethics - social justice; "fairness" |
Integrated Learning: Learning brings together content and skills from more than one subject area
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Inquiry Learning | Satisfactory | |
Inquiry Learning: Learning is directed by questions, problems, or challenges that students work to address.
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Differentiated Instruction | Good | |
Differentiated Instruction: Activities address a range of student learning styles, abilities and readiness.
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Experiential Learning | Good | The students participate in authentic learning because clothing is central to their lives. Their participation in the cloth swap and fashion show activity that will help them truly live the experience and change they are implementing in their every day lives. |
Experiential Learning: Authentic learning experiences are provided
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Cooperative Learning | Good | A number of the introductory activities have students working in groups. |
Cooperative Learning: Group and cooperative learning strategies are a priority.
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Assessment & Evaluation | Satisfactory | An evaluation idea is mentioned, but no grid is presented. |
Assessment & Evaluation: Tools are provided that help students and teachers to capture formative and summative information about students' learning and performance. These tools may include reflection questions, checklists, rubrics, etc. | ||
Peer Teaching | Satisfactory | Students have an opportunity to learn from others as they participate and engage in the brainstorming and reflection activities. |
Peer Teaching: Provides opportunities for students to actively present their knowledge and skills to peers and/or act as teachers and mentors.
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Case Studies | Poor/Not considered | |
Case Studies: Relevant case studies are included. Case studies are thorough descriptions of real events from real situations that students use to explore concepts in an authentic context. | ||
Locus of Control | Good | The resource strikes a balance between teacher-directed learning and student discovery learning |
Locus of Control: Meaningful opportunities are provided for students to choose elements of program content, the medium in which they wish to work, and/or to go deeper into a chosen issue. |