Basic 5 · Religious and Moral Education · The Environment
Caring for the Environment: Planting and Cleaning
In this topic you will demonstrate ways to care for the environment through tree planting, proper waste disposal and clean-up activities.
By the end of these notes you should be able to:
- Demonstrate how to plant and care for a tree
- Practise proper waste disposal
- Take part in a clean-up exercise
What you already know
- Pollution and waste
Copy everything that has a blue line on its left into your notebook. The other parts are for reading.
- Strand
- God’s Creation & Attributes
- Sub-strand
- The Environment
- Indicator
- B5.1.2.1.2 – Demonstrate ways to care for the environment
Introduction
Ghana's Green Ghana Day encourages every citizen to plant trees. Small actions, such as planting a tree or putting a sachet in a bin, add up to a cleaner, greener country.
1. Planting Trees
- Choose a suitable seedling, such as mahogany, cedrela, mango or neem.
- Dig a hole twice the size of the seedling's root ball.
- Remove the plastic bag carefully without breaking the soil around the roots.
- Place the seedling in the hole and fill it with soil.
- Press the soil gently and water it.
- Protect it with sticks or a fence and water it regularly in the dry season.
Trees give shade, fruits, medicine and timber. They stop erosion, provide homes for birds and animals, and clean the air by taking in carbon dioxide and giving out oxygen.
2. Proper Waste Disposal
| Method | Example |
|---|---|
| reduce | buy less packaged goods; use fewer sachets |
| reuse | use bottles to store water; use old tins as pots for seedlings |
| recycle | collect plastics for recycling companies |
| sort | separate food waste, plastics and paper |
| compost | turn food and leaf waste into manure for gardens |
Always put rubbish in a bin with a lid. Never throw it into gutters, rivers or by the roadside. Food waste can be composted to make manure for the school garden.
3. Clean-Up Exercises
Many communities organise clean-up days when people sweep streets, desilt gutters and clear weeds. Pupils can keep the classroom and compound clean every day. Wear gloves when picking rubbish and wash hands with soap afterwards.
Safety: Do not pick up broken glass, needles or sharp metal with bare hands. Tell an adult.
Religious groups also lead these efforts. Churches and mosques organise clean-ups and tree planting. In Islam, keeping the environment clean is an act of worship. In Christianity, caring for creation honours the Creator. In Traditional Religion, keeping the land clean pleases the ancestors and the earth goddess.
New words
- seedling
- A young plant grown from seed.
- waste disposal
- Getting rid of rubbish properly.
- recycle
- To process used materials into new products.
- compost
- Rotted plant and food waste used as manure.
- desilt
- To remove mud and rubbish from gutters.
- Green Ghana
- A national tree-planting programme.
Summary
- Trees give shade, food, medicine and clean air.
- Plant seedlings carefully and water them.
- Reduce, reuse, recycle and compost waste.
- Clean-up exercises keep our community healthy.
Class activity: School Tree Project
- Plant one tree seedling as a group in the school compound.
- Make a name tag for it and a watering rota.
- Record its height every two weeks.
You need: Local tree seedling, Broom, Waste basket
Exercises
Answer in your exercise book first, then check your answers.
1. Which helps the environment?
- A. Planting trees
- B. Bush burning
- C. Throwing rubbish in gutters
- D. Galamsey
Show answer
Answer: Planting treesTrees protect the land.2. Turning food waste into manure is called…
- A. composting
- B. burning
- C. dumping
- D. mining
Show answer
Answer: compostingIt makes compost.3. Using an old bottle to store water is…
- A. reusing
- B. recycling
- C. burning
- D. dumping
Show answer
Answer: reusingUsing it again.4. Rubbish should be put in bins.
- A. True
- B. False
Show answer
Answer: TrueNot in gutters.5. You should pick up broken glass with bare hands.
- A. True
- B. False
Show answer
Answer: FalseTell an adult.6. A young plant grown from seed is a ______.
Show answer
Answer: seedlingIt is planted out.7. List three steps for planting a tree.
Show answer
Answer: Dig a hole, place the seedling, fill with soil and water it.Any three in order.8. Explain how one tree helps the community.
Show answer
Answer: It gives shade, fruits or medicine, cleans the air, stops erosion and gives homes to animals.Many benefits.
Homework
- Plant a seed or seedling at home and care for it. Record its growth.