Everything you need to prepare and run your first WeCoExist investigation. Most teachers are ready to begin in less than five minutes.
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WeCoExist (WCE) is a smart bin in your classroom with a small sensor under the lid. The sensor measures how full the bin is and sends the reading over the internet to a WeCoExist dashboard your students can view. Your class uses this real data to learn measurement, graphing, averages, percentages and fair testing — while actually reducing the waste they create. You do not need to understand how the sensor or the website works. Every investigation document tells you exactly what to click and what to say.
A small sensor measures how full your classroom bin is.
Students enter their device ID to explore current and recent classroom waste data.
Use authentic data to teach measurement, graphs, percentages and sustainability.
Before your first lesson, gather these four things. Most teachers are ready in less than five minutes.
A council-style wheelie bin (recommended) with the WCE device installed
Your class device ID, written on the device or provided during setup.
→ An interactive whiteboard or
→ Projector or classroom screen to show the dashboard.
Printed worksheets for each student. Investigation 1 also uses rulers, tape measures and calculators.
Complete the investigations in order. Each builds on the previous one and requires very little teacher preparation.
Measuring, Volume, Estimation,
Unit conversion
Percentages, Graphs, Averages, Prediction
Students investigate ways to reduce classroom waste and use evidence from the dashboard to measure the impact of their actions.
→ Choose normal school weeks for Investigation 3 — avoid excursions, carnivals, and holidays.
→ Start daily readings the day the device is installed, so Investigation 2 has its 5 days of data.
Students can access their classroom dashboard in four simple steps.
Go to the WeCoExist website and open Search Device
Type the device ID written on your classroom smart bin
See the current fill level and recent waste data.
Use the dashboard alongside the investigation worksheets.
Your bin only reports when you ask it to. To take a reading, follow these steps.
Press the device's button (or plug in the powerbank if your device has no switch).
Wait for the long beep — that's a successful send, done within about 30 seconds. Three short beeps means the send failed — check the hotspot is on and press the button again. (Some devices have no beeper — for those, check the dashboard: the reading appears within a minute.)
Press the off button, or unplug the powerbank. Done — the device uses no power between readings.
One reading at the same time each school day — end of day works best. The class data monitor is the perfect owner of this job.
Complete these simple tasks before running your first investigation.
✓ Found my device ID and opened the classroom dashboard
✓ Sent a test reading and watched it appear on the dashboard
✓ Printed one worksheet for each student
✓ Read the Investigation 1 overview
✓ Emptied the bin
✓ Gathered rulers and tape measures
Start with Investigation 1 and guide your students through their first WeCoExist activity.