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Banana Skins Story Prep

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Banana Skins Story Prep

Read the original story below, then complete the activities. Use details from the story to support your answers. When a question asks what you think, more than one answer may be reasonable.

The Banana-Skin Challenge

On Monday morning, Maia found a banana skin beside the classroom garden. Someone had tossed it into the rubbish bin, which was already nearly full. Maia knew banana skins could go into compost instead. Compost is made from food scraps and other natural materials as they break down into soil. Food buried in a landfill can produce methane, a gas that adds to climate change. At morning tea, Maia told her friend Losa about the banana skin. “Let’s make it easy for everyone to sort their scraps,” Losa suggested. They asked their teacher for permission to put a small, clearly labelled food-scraps bucket beside the rubbish bin. Maia made a sign with pictures of an apple core, a banana skin and a sandwich crust. The first day was messy. A yoghurt pouch landed in the bucket, and a few classmates laughed at the sign. Maia felt like giving up, but Losa reminded her that new habits take time. They emptied the bucket into the school compost bin and added dry leaves to help the scraps break down. Their teacher thanked them for sticking with the idea. That positive reinforcement—a kind comment that encourages someone—made Maia smile. By Friday, more students were using the bucket correctly. One student even reminded a friend to keep plastic out of the compost. Maia and Losa decided to check the bucket each lunchtime and make a better sign showing what belonged in it. The garden still needed plenty of care, but the banana-skin challenge had given their classmates a useful way to help.

Understand the story

Look closely at the characters, events and choices in the story.

1.At the start of the story, where does Maia find the banana skin, and what does she think should happen to it?

2.What does the word “landfill” mean in this story?

A place where rubbish is buried
A container for growing flowers
A bucket used only for compost
A garden where fruit is picked

3.Why do Maia and Losa want the banana skin to go into compost instead of landfill? Give one reason from the story.

4.Which two traits best describe Maia when the first day goes badly? Choose two and explain your choices using story evidence.

5.What problem happens on the first day of the scraps bucket?

A yoghurt pouch goes into the bucket, and some classmates laugh at the sign.
The compost bin disappears from the garden.
Maia and Losa forget to make a sign.
The banana skin turns into soil straight away.

6.What does “positive reinforcement” mean in the story, and what example does Maia receive?

7.Put these events in the order they happen. Write 1, 2, 3 and 4 beside them. Use each number once.

More students use the bucket correctly by Friday.
Maia finds a banana skin beside the garden.
A yoghurt pouch is put in the bucket.
Maia and Losa put up a sign and a scraps bucket.

8.Which sentence best describes the story’s resolution?

The classmates begin using the scraps bucket, and Maia and Losa plan to improve the sign.
Maia decides that compost is too difficult and removes the bucket.
The school garden is finished and needs no more care.
Losa takes the scraps bucket home.

9.The story is told in the third person. Find one word or name from the story that shows this.

10.Imagine Maia and Losa check the bucket the following week. Write a possible next event that fits the story and explain why it is believable.