Life Cycle of a Pencil.

The article discusses classroom activities to teach students about the life cycle of a pencil in the United States. The first stage of a product life cycle is design. The second stage is gathering raw materials. The third stage is manufacturing and packaging. The fourth stage is distribution. The fifth stage is useful life. The sixth stage is disposal. As students discuss the pencil's life cycle, copies of three activities that model the stages in other products' life cycles can be handed out. The first activity, Chill Out, allows students to design packaging for an ice cube and consider the costs associated with its manufacture. In the second activity, Where Do You Draw the Line?, students pinpoint the factors that influence a pencil's useful life. In Something Old, Something New, students make recycled paper to learn about a product's disposal stage.