Cambridge Global Perspectives primary lesson plan - Looking after Planet Earth - why is litter a problem?

Oct 23, 2026

Primary lesson plan for learners aged 5–6 focused on simple analysis and evaluation of how litter (rubbish/trash/garbage left in public places) affects the environment. Includes lesson overview with guidance notes, learning objectives, and success criteria covering identifying litter types from photographs, describing clean versus littered scenes, expressing sensory feelings, and explaining impacts on people, plants, and animals. Provides step-by-step activities using images, sound recordings, group comparison, worksheet recording, and whole-class summarisation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Lesson plan

Lesson focus and learning objectives

Success criteria

Prior knowledge / Previous learning

Plan: Introduction

Plan: Main activities

Cambridge Global PerspectivesTM Primary lesson pack (5–11 years) Contents Lesson plan Guidance notes Resource 1: Litter in different environments Resource 2: Different types of litter Resource 3: Litter worksheet [www.cambridgeinternational.org/gpweek](www.cambridgeinternational.org/gpweek) 1 Contents Cambridge Global Perspectives ™ primary lesson plan Looking after Planet Earth – why is litter a problem? | For learners aged 5 to 6 | | | | --- | --- | --- | | CLASS: | | DATE: | | Lesson focus and learning objectives | The focus of the lesson is to develop simple skills of analysis and evaluation related to the effects of litter* on the environment:
• Analyse a source of information and evidence relevant to a topic (the effects of litter on the environment) .
• State an opinion about a given topic. | | | Success criteria | • Learners use observation skills to identify different types of litter from photographs of different environments.
• Learners can explain, in their own words, what a scene from a photograph looks like with and without litter.
• Learners can express, in their own words, their feelings and sensory responses to clean and littered environments.
• Learners can explain, in simple vocabulary, the effect of a polluted environment on people, plants and animals. | | | Prior knowledge / Previous learning | Learners understand that:
• we live on a planet called Earth along with many different living things, including plants and animals. | | *The reference to ‘litter’ throughout this pack means ‘rubbish’, ‘trash’ or ‘garbage’ which people have dropped or left behind in public places. Plan | Lesson | Planned activities | | --- | --- | | Introduction
15 minutes | Explain that you are going to show learners pictures of Earth from space and from the ground such as unspoiled beaches, forests and parks. Ask learners to think about what they see and how they feel as they look at the images and listen to the music.
Invite learners to say something about the pictures and how they feel about our planet. You can use the following questions:
• What did you see?
• Do you like the place(s) you saw? What is nice about it?
• How do these images of Earth make you feel?
Asking questions enables you to find out what the learners know already about Planet Earth and encourages them to express their feelings in response to the images.
Next, ask learners to close their eyes and play them a recording of sounds heard in a park e.g. birds singing, children playing, and to imagine the scene that they can hear. Ask learners to open their eyes and describe the scene that they have imagined. You can do this as a whole-class discussion or ask learners to discuss what they imagined in pairs and then ask one or two pairs to share this with the whole class.
Ask the learners to close their eyes again and listen to the same recording. Then ask learners to open their eyes and show them a picture of a park spoilt by litter. Discuss the following questions as a whole class:
• How is the scene different?
• What has happened?
• Would you like to go there? Why not?
If learners do not know what litter is, explain that litter is rubbish that has been left in an open or public space. | Cambridge Global Perspectives primary lesson plan 1 Contents | Lesson | Planned activities | | --- | --- | | Main
activities
35 minutes | Show learners a bag of litter and ask for volunteers to look inside the bag and describe what they see and smell. Write learners’ responses to the bag of litter on the board e.g. smelly, dirty.
Divide the class into pairs. Each pair will use photographs to identify different types of litter and analyse the impact of litter on a given environment. There are four different environments: park, street, forest and beach.
Give each pair the following resources:
• Resource 1 – Photographs of an environment (park, street, forest and beach) affected b

FAQs

What does the lesson pack mean by “litter” and what is the reference wording used throughout the materials?

“Litter” refers to rubbish/trash/garbage that people have dropped or left behind in public places or open spaces.

How do learners identify and analyse different types of litter during the main activities?

Learners work in pairs using photographs to identify litter types in specific environments, match pictures of litter types, and record their observations on a worksheet.

What outcomes should learners be able to demonstrate by the end of the lesson?

Learners can describe scenes with and without litter, express feelings and sensory responses to clean versus littered environments, and explain the effect of a polluted environment on people, plants, and animals.

Oct 23, 2026

Uploaded by Olivia Brown