Novelis launches recycling STEM education program

Novelis launches recycling STEM education program
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Atlanta-based aluminum rolling and recycling company Novelis and Discovery Education, a Silver Spring, Maryland-based provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, have announced the launch of an aluminum recycling education program, “Life of a Can—A Never Ending Story.” 

Designed to reinforce the importance of aluminum recycling and invite students to be environmental stewards, the companies say this new program offers standards-aligned digital learning tools for classrooms and families nationwide focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. In addition, Life of a Can explores the never-ending life cycle of a recycled aluminum can and encourages classrooms to implement recycling programs of their own. 

“Discovery Education is proud to partner with Novelis on this nationwide effort to engage students in the importance of our environment and the critical role they can each play to protect and preserve our planet,” says Lori McFarling, senior vice president, Discovery Education. “Life of a Can illuminates the core STEM applications utilized in the recycling process, and empowers educators with dynamic digital resources to inspire their students in the exploration of the earth’s natural resources.”

Beyond STEM skills, the companies explain that Life of a Can educates the future generation on key recycling facts such as the $1.5 billion total value of aluminum sent to landfills every year and the end-to-end recycling timeline for used beverage can (UBC), while encouraging the development of students’ critical-thinking skills through a holistic look at the recycling process and real-world implications of human actions. Created by Discovery Education’s curriculum experts, the companies say this multiyear engagement program offers digital resources designed to stimulate insightful conversations and illustrate STEM at work throughout the aluminum recycling process.

Available at no cost, the new online platform offers the following:

• • Interactive classroom activities—The program’s digital learning tools include a complete suite of standards-aligned free educator resources for upper elementary classrooms, which emphasize key STEM, critical-thinking and problem-solving skills for students focused on environmental subjects like sustainability, manufacturing and product life cycles. Downloadable classroom activities are designed to complement teachers’ existing lesson plans and explore the unique properties of aluminum and its role in our everyday lives. Life of Can lessons ask students to reflect on their own contribution to trash, strategize how they can improve their current practices and understand the environmental benefits of aluminum recycling. A downloadable Recycling Toolkit allows classrooms to create their own classroom recycling programs. An engaging, hands-on digital interactive module designed to walk students through the recycling process will launch in spring 2017.
  • At-home family resources—Life of a Can’s family extensions encourage students to share their classroom learnings with family members at home through STEM-based activities and family discussion starters that inspire insightful conversations about aluminum and the recycling process. Students will take home a scavenger hunt that illustrates how students’ homes can be powered by the energy saved from aluminum recycling.
  • Video vignette—Featuring National Hockey League defenseman and Stanley Cup Champion Andrew Ference, a self-proclaimed “eco-athlete,” the “What’s One Can” video highlights how recycling saves energy, investigates everyone’s impact on the environment and details how all students’ can be champions for the environment.

“Partnering with Discovery Education provides a fantastic opportunity for millions of teachers, students and their families to understand the true value of aluminum as an infinitely recyclable material,” says David Gill, vice president and general manager, can for Novelis North America. “As the world’s largest aluminum rolled products manufacturer and recycler, Novelis recycles more than 60 billion aluminum cans each year. Through Life of a Can, we are excited to help increase the number of cans recycled throughout the world by inspiring kids to be lifelong recyclers.”

Brandon Wislocki, a fifth grade teacher at Stonegate Elementary School of Irvine Unified School District in Irvine, California, adds, “As an educator, I’m thrilled to have these resources to engage my students in sustainability topics and give them an in-depth look at the aluminum recycling process. I look forward to integrating the Life of Can lesson plans and activities into my classroom instruction to reinforce STEM skills utilized in environmental careers, and creating a new recycling program for my classroom.”

Life of a Can is the first-of-its-kind recycling education program offered by Discovery Education. For more information on the program and to access the site’s free resources, visit www.lifeofacan.com.

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Source: Recycling Today
Novelis launches recycling STEM education program
<![CDATA[Atlanta-based aluminum rolling and recycling company Novelis and Discovery Education, a Silver Spring, Maryland-based provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, have announced the launch of an aluminum recycling education program, “Life of a Can—A Never Ending Story.” Designed to reinforce the importance of aluminum recycling and invite students to be environmental stewards, the companies say this new program offers standards-aligned digital learning tools for classrooms and families nationwide focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. In addition, Life of a Can explores the never-ending life cycle of a recycled aluminum can and encourages classrooms to implement recycling programs of their own. “Discovery Education is proud to partner with Novelis on this nationwide effort to engage students in the importance of our environment and the critical role they can each play to protect and preserve our planet,” says Lori McFarling, senior vice president, Discovery Education. “Life of a Can illuminates the core STEM applications utilized in the recycling process, and empowers educators with dynamic digital resources to inspire their students in the exploration of the earth’s natural resources.”Beyond STEM skills, the companies explain that Life of a Can educates the future generation on key recycling facts such…