I have started to talk with the students about how materials are made, and where they come from.
Each and everything we use has a complex story, from the start, where materials were taken (ocean, forest, lake, river, mountain,etc.) to our house, office or school. It is essential that students (and everyone) understand that we live on a finite planet and that we cannot continue to indefinitely take form Earth without thinking that there will be an end to most of the materials we use. For example, we hear about an upcoming shortage of the sand we use to make concrete. Even the materials that are not renewable are being used over the biocapacity of the planet, for example, wood. Depending on the rate at which we cut trees, the forest does not have time to regrow.

I propose to the students (K-8) to reflect on simple (or so it seems) materials to understand the scope of the interconnectedness of our world. It is essential that they understand why it is so important that they take good care of the materials and tools they use, because the price of a pair of scissors, for example, does not reflect the precious materials it is made of.

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not have the time to regrow.