♻️🔬 Waste Science Challenge: A STEAM & Everyday Waste Game 🗑️🌍

💡 Concept:

Students (16 years old) become “Waste Scientists”, investigating how household and school waste—from food, packaging, plastics, and more—impacts the environment and what science can teach us about reducing it. Through scientific observation, classification, and experimentation, they’ll discover practical ways to rethink and redesign waste in daily life.

🕹️ Game Setup & Rules

📌 Teams: 4–5 students
📌 Objective: Use science to reduce, manage, and transform waste sustainably
📌 Time Limit: 60–90 minutes
📌 Winning Criteria: Points for scientific accuracy, impact, and realistic waste-reduction strategies

🔹 Round 1: Waste Audit Lab (Observation & Classification) 🗂️🔍

💬 Challenge: What kinds of waste do we create—and how much?

✅ Task: Perform or simulate a mini waste audit (e.g., lunch trash, classroom bins, home garbage)

➤ Goal:

• Categorize waste (organic, recyclable, plastic, hazardous, paper, etc.)
  
  
• Estimate volumes and types generated in one day or week
  
  

🎯 Points for: Accurate classification and strong observational reasoning

🔹 Round 2: Decomposition Science (Biology & Chemistry) 🍌⚗️

💬 Challenge: How long does waste take to break down—and why?

✅ Task: Investigate (or use fictional data) on the decomposition rates of different materials (banana peels, paper, plastic, metal, etc.)

➤ Goal:

• Explain biological vs. non-biodegradable processes
  
  
• Identify what speeds up or slows down decomposition (e.g., oxygen, moisture, temperature, microbes)
  
  

🎯 Points for: Clear understanding of decay processes and scientific reasoning

🔹 Round 3: Upcycling Lab (Materials Science & Engineering) 🛠️♻️

💬 Challenge: How can waste become something new?

✅ Task: Brainstorm and prototype upcycled inventions (e.g., packaging turned into organizers, old clothes reused creatively)

➤ Goal:

• Use material properties to inform redesigns
  
  
• Optional: Build a model or sketch the idea
  
  

🎯 Points for: Creativity, material knowledge, and scientific logic

🔹 Round 4: Systemic Waste Solution Plan (Environmental Science & Systems Thinking) 🌐📉

💬 Challenge: How can science help a school or community waste less?

✅ Task: Propose a new system for better waste management (e.g., school composting, zero-waste lunch days, color-coded recycling stations)

➤ Goal:

• Use data or models to explain impact
  
  
• Back ideas with environmental science (carbon footprint, landfill space, pollution impact)
  
  

🎯 Points for: Practicality, scalability, and strong scientific justification

🏆 Final Presentation: “Waste Less, Science More” 🎤📦

Each team presents:

✅ What they learned from their waste audit and research
✅ A science-based redesign of a waste system or routine
✅ Visuals or models to support their solution

Award Categories:

🥇 Science for Sustainability Award – Best science-backed solution
🥈 Eco System Designers – Best system redesign
🥉 Waste Transformation Creators – Most creative use of waste

🌱 Learning Outcomes

✅ Understand the science of waste, decomposition, and recycling
✅ Apply biology, chemistry, and environmental thinking to waste challenges
✅ Use observation, classification, and analysis to solve real-world problems
✅ Promote waste-reduction habits through scientific insight
✅ Develop teamwork, communication, and innovation skills