Halala, Watch Your ‘Opala (Trash)

If we want to save the future of our environment, we need to start doing something now. This unit is designed to encourage students to think of their kuleana (responsibility) to their place by engineering a solution to reduce trash as well as refurbish trash into possible sustainable and innovative resources for the environment.
This curriculum is still under review by faculty. Units identified as Under Review have been submitted by educators. While they are available to view now, they are currently being reviewed by our curriculum committee for addition to this site.

Standards Aligned

Next Generation Science Standards, Social Studies (C3), Na Hapena A'o

Community Partner(s)

Community Partners have been invited to share their mana’o (knowledge) for topics in this unit, as well as have been invited to see the end products of students’ planning and design.

Essential Question

How does our trash impact where we live [in Hawai’i]?

Enduring Understanding

Students will understand that:

  • Hawaii’s past helps us understand the present and make decisions about the future.
  • The location of the Hawaiian Islands influences our access to resources, needs, culture, opportunities, and choices.
  • Our actions are connected to people and places around us, so we have a responsibility to think about what our actions can do.

Learner Level Elementary

Primary Content Engineering, STEM, Technology