One day in the middle of the school week, teacher Tatiana Ivanovna entered class 2B, asked for silence and made an announcement to the pupils.
Children, today the school won't have bells because something has broken. So you need to sit at your desks, and I'll begin the lesson. Today we'll be drawing, and then we'll discuss the work together,
said the teacher of class 2B.
The children hummed approvingly; they loved drawing and discussing very much.
Tatiana Ivanovna asked the pupils to be more attentive and follow the instructions precisely. She took out a large alarm clock from her bag and placed it on the desk. The clock face had clearly visible large numbers, an hour hand and a minute hand.
Draw the school courtyard, and don't forget to watch the clock hands. In three quarters of an hour you'll hand in your drawings to me, after which I'll tell you what we'll do next. The teacher sat at her desk and began filling in the register, whilst the pupils were somewhat puzzled by the teacher's words.
Three quarters of an hour! How much is that?
Lena asked quietly of Katya, who sat with her at the same desk.
I think it's three or four minutes, probably, I'm not sure exactly.
Katya whispered back and turned to Petya.
Can you tell me, please, what is three quarters of an hour?
We covered what a quarter is in maths lessons. Tatiana Ivanovna explained how to find a quarter of a number. You have to divide the number by four. But how can you divide one by four? Would that be four hours?
Vasya joined in the conversation:
No, there are sixty minutes in an hour, so you need to divide sixty by four. I solved a problem yesterday and remembered how many minutes are in an hour.
So we need to divide sixty by four? But we haven't learned how to divide numbers like that yet!
I found it!
Katya said happily. During the children's conversation, she had been flipping through her maths textbook. And she spoke so loudly that even the teacher looked up from the register and shook her head disapprovingly.
A quarter of an hour is fifteen minutes.
The other pupils came to the same conclusion, and now the children worked out how many minutes were in three quarters of an hour.
The children's conversation didn't end; they discussed the alarm clock and the hands, which one was the minute hand, only then did they start the task. The children drew the school courtyard, watched the clock hands so they could hand in their work to Tatiana Ivanovna on time.
The pupils of class 2B handed in their work on time, and the teacher let them go for break, whilst she began putting the drawings on the display board. After resting for a few minutes, the children returned to the classroom and, sitting in their places, prepared to discuss the work.
Tatiana Ivanovna suggested that the pupils choose the most beautiful work, and the children began to look carefully at the drawings. Each thought to themselves that their work was the best and most worthy, so they remained silent, and it was impossible to choose the best drawing.
After a long silence, Lena raised her hand and said:
I like the drawing coloured with bright colours, and she pointed to one of the works on the board.
Tatiana Ivanovna nodded, accepting her decision, because she really liked it when pupils explained their choice.
And I liked that drawing over there, where there's a tall tree and you can see the edge of a house.
Petya made his choice.
The tree is lonely and very beautiful.
Even Alyosha, who usually remained silent and spoke very rarely, said that he liked the work in the lower left part of the board.
Tatiana Ivanovna really wanted to encourage Alyosha and asked:
Why?
And he answered again, saying that the drawing had waste bins in it. All the children in the class started laughing, but the teacher didn't laugh; instead, she began to look carefully at the other drawings.
Indeed! Apart from Katya, none of the children drew the waste bins that stand in the school courtyard. Why?
Tatiana Ivanovna asked the children.
They're not beautiful!
Lena said, wrinkling her face.
That's not true!
Katya objected quietly.
The bins are actually very attractive, new, bright, different colours. And thanks to them, the school courtyard is clean.
The class became noisy; the pupils started arguing about whether the waste bins should have been drawn. They agreed that the drawing without them was inaccurate and contradicted themselves, claiming that rubbish wasn't a subject for a drawing.
Tatiana Ivanovna gave the children time to discuss the situation and even allowed those who needed to leave the classroom for a moment to do so.
Do you know, children, that there are special waste bins in the school courtyard for separate waste collection?
With these words, the teacher seated the children when they had calmed down a bit.
They have symbols on them so you can recognise what rubbish can be thrown in. One collects food waste, which will later be made into fertiliser for plants. In another bin, paper and cardboard boxes are stored, which will be sent for recycling to make new paper products.
A bit further away there's a bin for collecting plastic items and bags, and another bin for tin cans. Tatiana Ivanovna explained to the pupils that separately collected waste isn't just rubbish, but secondary raw material, and told them to write down the information in their notebooks.
The teacher took all the drawings off the board, leaving only Katya's work. The children wrote in their Russian language notebooks: "Separately collected waste is not rubbish, but secondary raw material, from which useful goods are produced".
Summing up the lessons, Tatiana Ivanovna opened the register and asked the children a question:
What did you learn in the maths lesson and what did you master?
We learned that a quarter of an hour is fifteen minutes,
Petya answered, and the teacher approved of the answer.
Then the other children remembered that in the maths lesson they had understood how to tell the time on mechanical clocks and would forever remember that there are exactly sixty minutes in an hour. And they found out how to divide sixty by four without knowing the long division rule, and learned how to find three quarters of a number without the teacher's help.
Tatiana Ivanovna was pleased with the pupils' answers and gave everyone a five in maths and in Russian language too, because all the children, except Kolya, wrote the dictated sentence without mistakes.
Kolya didn't manage to write two words, so he didn't get a mark in Russian language. The teacher marked everyone as excellent for the drawing lesson. In environmental studies, only Katya received a five, and all the children agreed that this was fair. After all, if it hadn't been for Katya, they wouldn't have found out in the near future that separately collected waste isn't rubbish, but secondary raw material.
