Has the amount of trash increased or decreased?

Grade level:  4th – 5th grades

Skills: Creating and interpreting line graphs

Related environmental issues: Waste generation

The table below shows the amount of trash discarded in this country between 1960 and 2014.

screen-shot-2017-02-02-at-3-14-41-pm

  1. Make a line graph to represent the information in the table.

    screen-shot-2017-02-02-at-3-15-44-pm

  2. Has the amount of trash increased or decreased over the last 50 years?
  3. Between which years did the amount of trash change the most?
  4. How much did the amount of trash increase between 1960 and 2010?

Sources: U.S. EPA

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Answer keys

  1. screen-shot-2017-02-02-at-3-17-22-pm
  2. increased
  3. Between 1980 and 1990
  4. 251 – 88 = 163 (million tons)