Plastic-Free Living Vocabulary word search, scramble and crossword puz

Plastic-Free Living Vocabulary word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this plastic-free living vocabulary puzzle set for my 3rd and 4th graders during our environmental unit. The kids had heard of plastic but had no idea what words like reuse, avoid, or biodegradable meant when we started talking about how to reduce plastic use. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like plastic, reuse, recycle, reduce, avoid, biodegradable, compost, bottle, bag, straw, and container . Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the vocabulary finally stick.

The PDF is four pages. Three puzzles plus one answer key page. The word search works well for quiet time after recess, and the scramble gets them talking because they argue about the spelling of "biodegradable" (it's a tricky one) or whether a compostable item is the same as a recyclable one (they're not—they always have opinions about it). The crossword I use for partners, and I usually have a few examples of reusable items nearby for the kids who need the visual support to see the vocabulary in action.

Works for 3rd through 5th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers write one thing they can do to use less plastic on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.