Where Does the Garbage Go?

Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 2

by Paul Showers, Randy Chewning (Illustrator)

Follow that garbage truck! ...to the landfill to see how trash keeps piling up...to the incinerator to see how trash can be turned into energy ... to the recycling center to see how a soda bottle can be turned into a flowerpot. Filled with graphs, charts, and diagrams, Where Does the Garbage Go? explains how we deal with the problem of too much trash and provides ideas for easy ways to be a part of the solution.

Genres: Science, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Environment, Stem, Kids

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Jen Goeden · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story called Where does the Garbage Go is about what happens to garbage when it goes to the landfill. It shows different things that we need to do with our trash to help with the problem of so much trash.

The story Where does the Garbage Go form is problem solution and also sequence. The book has bright colored pictures that full the page from top to bottom. On some of the pages have captions within the pictures. They are fun to read because they are saying from students in the classroom learning about garbage. Also in the book I found graphs and charts that are easy for students to understand. I think that this would be a great book to read to your class during Earth Week. It could help student learn what and how to recycle things. One fun thing that you could do is take your class to visits a recycling center in your own town or have a garbage person come talk to the class. There are many things that a garbage person can teach the students.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to use when talking about trash, landfills, and recycling. I read this to a group of third graders and it really helped extend their knowledge in landfills and where trash really goes.

[Sha-Quita Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was informative about where do garbage go and how to recycle. Students would be able to relate to this book possibly because they may recycle at home and other students may start.

[Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This might be ok for getting Kindergarte, preschool kids, and maybe early elementary started in thinking about waste and recycling (back cover does say ages 5-9), but there are probably a lot better books out there for the task. Info is a bit dated, and this material could be made much more interesting, engaging and inspiring for kids. Where statistics are presented, there are not amounts that a child could relate to presented alongside. For example, when saying each person in the US creates about 4 pounds of trash a day, why not provide an example of an everyday item that weighs about 4 pounds which a child may have encountered (e.g. "that's like X cans of soup or a common size for a bag of sugar). Many of the pictures were probably a little too complex for the age range. Not terrible, but just an ok book for introducing these concepts.

[Nicole Woolwine · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5
1974
Informational
Pre k-5th grade
Reading this book today for the first time did not disappoint me or the preschoolers I read it to!
A book full of information on recycling and steps to where our trash goes made for a very interactive & discussions reading time! This book was a picture book that had characters learning in a classroom on trash and recycling! Great illustrations on the process of trash in a landfill, with diagrams and the different materials we can recycle and why! This book had many key points I discussed with the preschools on a level they understood and could apply to their lives now on what they’ve seen! Defiantly a classroom book to have, and even a unit to teach from!

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

To children and unfortunately many adults as well, there is no analytical thought when something is thrown in the garbage. There is the belief that it simply goes away with no consequences. Yet, something must be done with it and while all of it can be considered a pollutant, some of it is toxic.
The purpose of this book is to explain to children that there are consequences to tossing something away. Many items can in fact be recycled, saving landfill space and requiring less extraction of resources from the Earth. The descriptions are very well done and are written at the level of the second grader. I strongly recommended this book as a primer for children as humans face existential threats of climate change and the depletion of natural resources.

[Scout Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book that educates on garbage, landfills, recycling and generally helping the environment.
It is a bit outdated, since recycling was more of a "new" thing when this book was written.
Overall the illustrations were good, and I even learned something from a kids' picture book (which is rare)!

I'm looking at environmentally-focused children's books for a project. I may end up using this, although the outdatedness is the biggest disadvantage of using it. It does show how plastic (for example) is recycled, which is pretty cool and good to know.

Would recommend to parents/teachers/kids who want to know a little more about "where the garbage goes"!

[Ciana Froemming]

Where Does Garbage Go by Paul Showers is a great informational read for young children who are learning about waste and how to properly throw their garbage away. It talks about the history of landfills and the new ways to recycle plastic, paper, metal and more. It goes through the recycle process of each of these materials and what it can be turned into. It also talks about the damage waste does to our environment and how burning waste pollutes the air. I enjoyed reading this book, because even I learned new information about recycling. I know I can do better and hope that as a society we do better at protecting our Earth. The illustrations included diverse characters.

[Tashanna Gilliam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where Does the Garbage Go is a great informational book about the original trash system, what changes we made, and what changes we need to make. The illustrations show the how landfills operate and what happens once trash leaves your house. It also goes into detail about aluminum, glass, paper, and plastic recycling processes. I learned a lot from this book and would love to share it with students (PreK-3rd). I think it would be a great way to incorporate science into our reading.

[Mrs. Ruigrok · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book to teach boys and girls about where garbage goes, what a landfill is, how things are recycled and how we need to divert more garbage. Great explanations in easy to understand language with accompanying illustrations.

[Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since Wallace (age 3) is so very into garbage trucks, I thought we should explore where the garbage actually goes. This is a slightly now outdated look at what actually happens to the trash we create, what recycling means and how we can help to reduce the amount of waste that we create.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

*First read when I was a kid*

I remember reading this book a lot as a kid, and I'm pretty sure it's one of the things that really got me into recycling and sustainability at a young age. It still held up for me, and even though it's a little dated, it's still a pretty good introduction to environmental issues.

The pictures have a lot of cute asides, and easily walks the reader through most people's reasoning for throwing things away. It shows the impact that trash has on the environment, and how though landfills and incinerators are more useful than previous tactics, they aren't ideal for the planet.

With most people averaging four pounds of trash a day (according to the book), it brings up the idea of recycling, and how old stuff can be turned into something new. The book has really nice graphics to show the actual process, and goes into a good amount of detail of how materials are changed, step by step.

The book ends with the idea that while it's good to recycle, it's more important to create less waste in the first place, and integrate other methods of sustainability into our daily lives. I'm glad that this held up for me, and as more time passes, I hope kids today get the same messages from it, too.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative; especially for someone (like me) who didn't really know where garbage goes after it leaves my house.

[Melissa Namba · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good description of what happens to garbage, but I'm disappointed in the lack of a final hands on project, which would be more impact full in teaching about recycling.

[Jmarkat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where does the garbage go is in the genre of non fiction and is intended for children in the primary level. This book takes you on a tour following the garbage truck to the landfill to see how trash keeps piling up, then to the incinerator to see how trash can be turned into energy, then to the recycling center to see how a soda bottle can be turned into a flowerpot. It also explains how we deal with the problem of too much trash and provides ideas for easy ways to be a part of the solution. I gave this book 3 stars because it provides general everyday information that children need to know about where the trash goes after they throw it away. It also give the readers different solutuions on how to cut down on trash build up by recycling and turning trash into treasures. the illustrations are colorful which cathes the readers attention, and the book is filled with charts, graphs, and diagrams which also aid in solutions for trash distribution. This book can be incorporated in the classroom by making children aware of where trash go when they rhow it away, introducing recycling, and even making a project out of something that was once recycled.

[Brea Garris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe this story is a great read for students in the second grade. It teaches the reader the importance of recycling in an agreeable manner. The illustrations are well drawn, and I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about recycling. This read would be an excellent addition to the science classroom.

[Tammy Emmert · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Where Does the Garbage Go?" explains how we deal with the problem of too much trash and provides ideas for easy ways to be a part of the solution. Love the illustration. Teaches us that we all can and should recycle.



Lesson: CD-SC5 The child will demonstrate an awareness of, and the need to protect, his/her environment.

Give each child a bag and walk in and outside of the school and see if we can pick up litter/trash and bring it into the classroom and sort out what is recycle and what is trash.


I would place this book in dramatic play and in science

3 content-
•Recycling is the process of turning used waste and materials into new products. This prevents potentially useful materials from being wasted as well as reducing energy use and pollution
•A wide variety of different materials can be recycled, including paper, plastic, glass, metal, textiles and electronic equipment
•The idea of recycling isn’t something new, historical evidence shows that humans have been recycling various materials for thousands of years.

[Shanna Gonzalez · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Let's-Read-And-Find-Out Science series is composed of a myriad of different topics introducing children to how different aspects of the world work. This one deals with the process of garbage disposal and recycling in Western society. It gives a detailed, interesting description of how landfills are formed and used, and the best feature of the book is probably the simplified models of glass, aluminum and plastic recycling processes. It is illustrated in an adequately detailed, fairly simple style that communicates the meaning of the text.

The book ends with an admonishment to reuse things and seek to create less waste, and an example of two children shopping at the grocery store with string bags instead of disposable plastic ones. This example is a bit over-specific (our family recycles grocery bags by lining small trash cans), but the book is worthwhile as a library checkout for its clear presentation of the disposal and recycling processes.

[Allie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book would be great to use when doing a community helper theme in the classroom. The book shows different ways people can get rid of their trash, with compactors, trash cans, garbage chutes. It can open the conversation about if you lived in the city how might you get rid of your trash? You could also ask how do you get rid of garbage at your house? What do you put in the garbage at your house? Although I enjoyed this book I do not think I would recommend this book to others. The pictures and text are not going to get the attention of a young audience and I do not think that readers would pick this book up on their own. If I would use this book in the classroom I would use it for Earth day and talk about recycling. You would have to use other resource for recycling, this book does not mention what recycling is and that it is an alternative to throwing everything in the garbage.

[alana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where Does Garbage Go? is a great supplement for early elementary units on waste, recycling, and conservation. My first graders particularly enjoyed the illustrations of the recycling factories. We spent a long discussion exploring why certain materials need to be chopped up, heated, or mixed with water to break them down and repurpose them. My students can't yet read the text on their own but took responsibility for the picture captions and character comics. They will be able to walk themselves back through the book on their own using the helpful illustrations as a guide.

This series of science books has really enhanced our studies this year as it introduces much more indepth information about a topic than the 1st grade textbook.

[Tammy Barnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to use to explain what happens to garbage and why you should recycle. This books stands out because it takes needed information and presents it in a way that is appealing and easy to understand to young readers. The illustrations in this book really add to the understanding. They are drawings but they show a lot of side views which allow for a better understanding. Another feature that is nice is how they use pie charts and different representations to get across important information. This book can be used in the younger grades for the importance of recycling and can be used for math topics as well. I would recommend this book for any 1st through 3rd grade classroom for sure.

[Ashley Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book that talks about trash and the proper place for it. I would use this book during the engage part of a lesson on recycling for third graders. After reading the book I would have the students bring in diffefrnt articles of trash. We would use this trash in an activity. In the activity I would have a grocery bag.I would have the students place the trash in teh grocery bag. After a while the trash would begin to overflow and fall onto the floor. I would observe to hear the students response to the trash that is all over the floor. We would then have a discussion about recycling and pollution and the causes and effects of it.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where Does the Garbage Go? By: Paul Showers ISBN: 0-613-01320-4,1994.
Children learned that years ago all garbage was thrown into the same bag including food waste, cans, bottles, and newspapers. In the dump there were piles of garbage everywhere! Now most people recycle their bottles, cans and newspapers and their garbage goes to a landfill. A place that spreads the waste then covers it with soil. What can you do to help the environment?


**Another great book to share for Earth Day!

[Anthony W · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book describes many different ways that garbage can be taken care of. It also stats a way that you can save garbage and reuse things, such as paper.

This ia a colorful and useful book. The text is very easy to read but yet interesting. Along with the digrams and interesting pictures this can be a very informational book for young readers. Using this book might encourage kids to recycle to save the earth.

[Jessica Chambliss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for grades k-3, this book is a detailed description of the process of trash. Through waste, recyclable products, what types etc. I thought this book was interesting and would help third graders have a better understanding of garbage. For this lesson I decided to read the children this book and then do an activity which required children to sort trash! (no worries, this wasn't real trash, I made it trash! :)) They loved it and made the reading more enjoyable.

[Angela Hutchinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a interesting book about the life cycle of trash. It describes how the trash used to be dumped in the ocean, but now it is dumped in landfills. It also shows what the landfills look like once the trash is buried. Next, this book breaks down the steps to materials that are recycled. This would be an important book when the students will be learning about recycling and the importance of recycling. It was informational and I liked looking at the pictures in detail after I read the text.

[Jenna Arntz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book tells all about where the garbage goes and all the different ways that trash gets disposed of. It also talks about the importance of recycling and some of the things we can do to recycle. Such as, reusing plastic grocery bags instead of throwing them away. I would use this book as a read aloud in my classroom. It would be very useful to help children learn where the garbage goes and why they should recycle. There are also tons of activities that could along with this book.

[Erica Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book teaches students about what the environment was like before recycling. The book also has a graft and incorporates other numbers that would be good to integrate mathematics. At the end the children in the story come up with ways that they can help the environment. Allow the students to brainstorm their own ideas of how they can help preserve the environment.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very simple primer about how we process garbage and different ways to recycle. It's informative without being too preachy and the narrative is simple enough for young elementary school-age children. The illustrations are colorful and are useful to depict the processes by which we dispose of and transform garbage. We enjoyed reading this book together.

[Rachel C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides readers with a clear example of where different types of garbage goes and what happens to garbage from there. It also tells a brief history about how we took care of the garbage before and what we do differently now. This would be a great book to use with a class when learning a unit about pollution.