Environmental Activity Sheet 3

Title: Raising funds by collecting aluminium cans

Activity: Many schools collect aluminium cans either to boost school funds or for charity. Using a spreadsheet would make the task easier and also allow predic-tions to be made and targets to be set.

Resources: Cans
a spreadsheet program, e.g. Grasshopper, Starting Grid/Excel, Advantage

What to do: Set up the spreadsheet as follows:

This is based on: 1 can = 0.032 kg (formula: C4*.032) price paid =42p per kg (formula: D4*42) From this the children can:

• keep a running total of the number of cans collected and the money raised.

Extension activities:

• Predict how much money might be raised by the end of term.
• Set targets.
• Campaign for an increase in can collecting to reach targets (posters, etc.).
• Find the volume of liquid a can holds.
• Work out how much metal was used to make the can.

The children then form questions that lead to hypotheses and the creation of a database using appropriate field names. Questions can then be asked leading to higher order searching and sorting of information.

Children could also:
Trace a piece of litter from the place where it was found to its source. Present the 'story' through a multimedia authoring program eg Hyperstudio, Illuminatus.
Collect the 'junk mail' that comes to the house. Sort it using a variety of criteria. These activities can have real value in that they could lead to a positive change in people's behaviour.

IT Capability: Handling Information level 2 or 3. Level 4 and 5 can be achieved with more complex lines of enquiry.