Garbage Dreams: Classroom

Imagine if recycling were not just a matter of protecting the environment, but of personal survival.

Filmed over four years, the documentary Garbage Dreams goes inside the world of Egypt’s Zaballeen (Arabic for “garbage people”) to reveal the lives of three teenage boys born into the trash trade. The Zaballeen have been collecting garbage in Cairo since the early 1900s. At the turn of this century, the government of Cairo began using foreign companies to haul garbage. These companies recycle just 20 percent of what they collect, and the rest is dumped into a landfill.

The Garbage Dreams Game asks players to take on the role of the Zaballeen—who recycle 80 percent of the trash they collect—to sort, process, and profit from the garbage collected from Cairo’s neighborhoods. The film, the game, and corresponding lesson plans explore recycling and the globalized economy.

Four standards-aligned lesson plans, in the subject areas of social studies, language arts, cultural studies, economics, and Earth science, encourage students to learn more about recycling practices in their own communities and around the world.

Watch the extended (6 minutes) film trailer, referred to in the lesson plans below.

Lesson Plans

Garbage Dreams Game Overview

(PDF, 3.6MB)

An introduction to the Garbage Dreams documentary and game, including key background information about recycling and descriptions of the contents of the lesson plans below.
Lesson One: “Viewing the Film”

(PDF, 3.6MB, grades 9-12)

Examine the social and economic conditions that the Zaballeen people face as they earn their livelihood from recycling.

(Subject areas: social studies, language arts, cultural studies, economics)
Lesson Two: “Playing the Game”

(PDF, 3.6MB, grades 6-12)

Set the stage for playing the game, and align learning points with students’ daily lives.

(Subject areas: social studies, economics, mathematics, Earth science)
Lesson Three: “We Recycle!”

(PDF, 4.4MB, grades 6-12)

Provide opportunities for students to study the science and math behind the recycling industry.

(Subject areas: mathematics, Earth science, economics)
Lesson Plans for Middle School Students

(PDF, 5.2MB)

A series of activities specifically designed for middle school students.

(Subject areas: social studies, language arts, cultural studies, economics)