Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Caring for Our Planet

About This Resource

A free Grade 3 science worksheet pack on reducing waste: the three Rs, sorting rubbish into recycling, compost and trash, what happens in a landfill, how plastic harms animals, and making a waste-saving plan. Includes a timed lesson plan, worksheet, editable Word version and answer key.

Overview

Children learn why we make too much waste and what we can do about it. They learn the three Rs in order of importance (reduce, reuse, recycle), sort everyday waste into recycling, compost and trash, find out what happens to waste in a landfill and in the ocean, and think of ways to reuse old things. They finish by writing a plan to reduce waste at school.

Resource Details

Subject: Science
Topic: Recycling and Reducing Waste
Category: Earth & Space
File Type: PDF
File Size: 245.5 KB
Published: 30 Oct 2026
Downloads: 0

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Grade 3 (ages 8–9) 40 minutes Earth care sorting reasoning problem solving writing a plan

Student Task

Empty a (clean) classroom bin onto a sheet and ask children to sort what they find.
Teach the three Rs, then do activities 1 and 2 together.
Children complete activities 3 to 5; answers are in the answer key. Check your local recycling rules, as they vary from place to place.

Classroom Use

Bin audit: children count the items in the classroom bin for one day and graph what could have been recycled or reused.
Reuse challenge: groups turn clean recycling (boxes, bottles, tubes) into something useful, such as a pencil holder.
Litter pick: with adult supervision and gloves, clean up a small part of the school grounds and sort what you find.

Differentiation

Support: use picture cards of waste items for sorting. Challenge: research how long a plastic bottle takes to break down and present a fact to the class.

Answer Key & Assessment

Activities 1 to 4 check the three Rs and sorting (answer key included). Activity 5 checks problem solving.

Learning Objectives

Explain the meaning of reduce, reuse and recycle.
Sort everyday waste into recycling, compost and trash.
Suggest ways to reduce waste at home and at school.

Teacher Tips

Recycling rules differ between towns. Check what your local service accepts so the sorting activity matches what children see at home.

What's Included

7-page printable PDF lesson pack: teacher lesson plan with timings, materials and differentiation
Key vocabulary list (4 words with meanings and examples)
Student worksheet (5 activities)
Editable Word version of the worksheet
Complete answer key (also as a separate PDF)