by Rebekah Corbett
Plastics are such a
huge part of our world and students need to understand what they are
and why they can be dangerous for the environment. Plastics are useful
because they are light weight and stong, can be flexable or rigid, can
be made almost any color, and can be molded into almost any shape!
Plastic makes or is a part of many different kinds of productus like:
cups, plates, bottles, food containers, plastic bags, butons,
refrigeratiors, microwaves, radios, TVs, CDs, VCRs, pipes, telephones,
computers, football helmets, beach balls, Ping-Pong balls, combs,
toothbrushes, credit cards, rulers, notebooks, table cloths, camera
film, skis, surfboards, toys and parts for cars.
As an activity (and a way to involve the students), ask them to split into teams or individually and list as many objects that they can think of the have plastic in them or are made of plastic. As an added challenge make it certain object in the room or another specific place. Prizes for the winner(s) are good but not necessary.
The problem with plastic is that it can take hundreds of years to breakdown and as they break down, they release poisonous materials into the water and soil. Plastic can also hurt wildlife. Animals like certain endangered sea turtles eat plastic bags and often choke on them (the bags probably look like the turtles main food, the jellyfish). National Geographic Kids has great information on recycling and is made just for children.
The good news is that plastics can be recycled! Recycling means that the the platic will be reused to make such products as fiber in carpeting, the stuffing in bed comforters, flower pots, plastic lunber and park benches. To reuse plastic it must be collected, inspected, cleaned, cut up in to small pieces, dried, melted, filtered and formed into tiny pellets that can be molded into what ever shape they want it to. Energy Kids Page has several sites describing what plastic is, how and why plastic can be recycled and the uses of plastics.
Now each student will make their own plastic, and see just what it can do!
As an activity (and a way to involve the students), ask them to split into teams or individually and list as many objects that they can think of the have plastic in them or are made of plastic. As an added challenge make it certain object in the room or another specific place. Prizes for the winner(s) are good but not necessary.
The problem with plastic is that it can take hundreds of years to breakdown and as they break down, they release poisonous materials into the water and soil. Plastic can also hurt wildlife. Animals like certain endangered sea turtles eat plastic bags and often choke on them (the bags probably look like the turtles main food, the jellyfish). National Geographic Kids has great information on recycling and is made just for children.
The good news is that plastics can be recycled! Recycling means that the the platic will be reused to make such products as fiber in carpeting, the stuffing in bed comforters, flower pots, plastic lunber and park benches. To reuse plastic it must be collected, inspected, cleaned, cut up in to small pieces, dried, melted, filtered and formed into tiny pellets that can be molded into what ever shape they want it to. Energy Kids Page has several sites describing what plastic is, how and why plastic can be recycled and the uses of plastics.
Now each student will make their own plastic, and see just what it can do!
Materials (for each student or group)
-paper towels
-measuring spoons
-Elmer's white liquid glue
-Epsom salt
-water
-plastic spoons
-2 small paper or plastic cups
-wax paper
Directions:
1. Cover your work area with a double layer of paper towels. In a small cup, place 1 tablespoon of Elmer's glue.
2. In a separate small cup, add 1/2 teaspoon of Epsom salt and 1/2 teaspoon of water. Swirl the cup until no more Epsom salt will dissolve. (There may be al little Epsom salt left at the bottom of the cup).
3. Pour all the contents from the Epsom salt cup into the glue cup an stir.
4. Scoop the mixture out onto a double thickness of paper towels. Fold the paper towels ober the mixture and press down to absorb the extra water.
5. Have students stretch, roll, and shape into whatever shape they want to or can think of (it makes a great bouncy ball!).
Hints and Suggestions:
If you want to show difference between the decompostion plastic compared to something organic like leaves, try getting a couple clear jars of dirt and bury some of your plastic blobs and some leaves, grass trimmings or paper (each in a different jar) and see after a few weeks or months which has started to decompose and which has not.
The Incrediblob experiment was from The Best of Wonder Science by Thomson/Wadsworth and the American Institute of Physics, 1997.
-paper towels
-measuring spoons
-Elmer's white liquid glue
-Epsom salt
-water
-plastic spoons
-2 small paper or plastic cups
-wax paper
Directions:
1. Cover your work area with a double layer of paper towels. In a small cup, place 1 tablespoon of Elmer's glue.
2. In a separate small cup, add 1/2 teaspoon of Epsom salt and 1/2 teaspoon of water. Swirl the cup until no more Epsom salt will dissolve. (There may be al little Epsom salt left at the bottom of the cup).
3. Pour all the contents from the Epsom salt cup into the glue cup an stir.
4. Scoop the mixture out onto a double thickness of paper towels. Fold the paper towels ober the mixture and press down to absorb the extra water.
5. Have students stretch, roll, and shape into whatever shape they want to or can think of (it makes a great bouncy ball!).
Hints and Suggestions:
- It is important to make the measurements as close as possible to the directed amounts, otherwise the plastic may not come out in the right consistancy.
- The plastic will harden the longer it sits, so have them mold it while they can
- The actual mixing of the ingrediants only takes about 5 minutes and the time allowed for them to play with it can be as long as the teacher wants it to go on for, but the most time consuming part is handing out all the ingrediants and measureing the ingrediants. I would suggest have the students doing an activity ( like the plastic hunt above) while the teacher passes out the supplies. Otherwise the students may become restless.
If you want to show difference between the decompostion plastic compared to something organic like leaves, try getting a couple clear jars of dirt and bury some of your plastic blobs and some leaves, grass trimmings or paper (each in a different jar) and see after a few weeks or months which has started to decompose and which has not.
The Incrediblob experiment was from The Best of Wonder Science by Thomson/Wadsworth and the American Institute of Physics, 1997.