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Learning Labs / Eco Town Quest

Small choices. A better town.

Solve miniature town missions and explore waste, water, energy, travel, and thriving green spaces.

Learning path / 6 lessons0 / 6 completed

Lesson 01 / Build your understanding

Waste & local rules

Route six recognizable items using a declared town rule set, and explain why local collection guidance matters.

01 / Concept

Start with the idea.

Recycling is a collection and processing system, not a universal label for anything that feels reusable. Material, cleanliness, mixed construction, and local acceptance determine a useful route.

Our fictional town accepts fruit scraps for compost and clean metal cans and paper for recycling. Its greasy mixed wrapper goes to residual collection. The used battery goes to designated special collection.

Read the reasoning

Real facilities and local rules differ. Batteries can cause fires or other hazards when put in ordinary trash or recycling; use the appropriate local collection guidance. Avoid wishful sorting that contaminates an accepted stream.

Key terms
Accepted stream
Materials a particular collection system can actually handle.
Contamination
Unaccepted material mixed into a collection stream.

02 / Predict

What do you expect?

In this town, where does the used battery belong?
03 / Experiment → 04 / ExplainChange one thing. See why.

Town mission / 01

Give every item a better route

Select an item and choose its collection, or drag the 3D item to a bin. Learn this town's rules before checking your choices.

EXPLORE & COMPARE

Goal: Route all six items correctly

Inspect the kit

Preparing your workbench…

Select an item and a collection bin, or drag the item toward a bin. The controls below provide the same choices.

Drag empty space to rotate · Scroll or pinch to zoom · Select a part · Arrow keys rotate the focused view · Home resets it. Labeled controls offer the same actions.

These are the rules of this fictional town. Actual collection rules depend on your location and materials; batteries require designated collection.

0 / 6Correct routes
0 / 6Items placed
4 routesTown collections

Your town, explained

0 of six items follow this fictional town's rules. Recycling depends on material, condition, and local acceptance. Keep batteries in designated special collection; do not put them in ordinary trash or recycling. Check your local guidance for actual waste.

Read the town diagram

Choices → resources → useful services → outcomes

Six items → four town collections → accepted materials return to useful routes. A battery goes to designated special collection.

What this miniature town can teach

Compare choices while keeping services, people, units, and system boundaries visible. Collection rules, fixture flows, energy duty times, vehicle emissions, costs, and runoff coefficients are declared teaching assumptions. They are not universal forecasts.

Runoff coefficients: homes and paving 0.90; lawn 0.65; shrubs 0.30; meadow 0.35; tree 0.25; rain garden 0.20. The model groups all water not routed to runoff together. Real rainfall, soils, slope, infiltration, maintenance, and habitat suitability need local assessment.

Environmental improvements depend on location, accessibility, repeated use, and the full life cycle. This town rewards thoughtful comparisons, not one action claimed to solve every environmental problem.

05 / Practice

Put the idea to work.

Which pair does this town accept in ordinary recycling?

06 / Recap

Take the lesson with you.

  • Sort by material, condition, and local acceptance.
  • Keep batteries in designated collection.
  • Prevent contamination; do not guess from a generic symbol alone.

Check your prediction and solve a practice challenge to complete this lesson.

References & further reading

Keep your curiosity going.

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