Sustainable living
Make bioplastics - save the environment
Part 1 - Students learn what is bioplastics in the classroom
Lesson plan
Introduction
Bioplastics is a shortened notion of biodegradable plastics whose parts are derived entirely or almost entirely from renewable raw materials, and the most common input materials are natural polymers, starch or cellulose. Bioplastics are those plastics that contain one or more biopolymeric materials as the basic substance and have similar characteristics as ordinary syringe polymers. However, the difference is that it has biodegradable material in the composition that decomposes after a certain period of time and therefore does not pollute the environment.
www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-bioplastics
Aim of the lesson
13-14 years
Time
Preparation time:
Activity 1 – 40 min.
Activity 2 – 40 min.
Activity 3 – 40 min. and 15 days reserch
Activity 4 - 40 min.
Teaching time:
2 weeks
Lesson plan
Introduction
Bioplastics is a shortened notion of biodegradable plastics whose parts are derived entirely or almost entirely from renewable raw materials, and the most common input materials are natural polymers, starch or cellulose. Bioplastics are those plastics that contain one or more biopolymeric materials as the basic substance and have similar characteristics as ordinary syringe polymers. However, the difference is that it has biodegradable material in the composition that decomposes after a certain period of time and therefore does not pollute the environment.
www.creativemechanisms.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-bioplastics
Aim of the lesson
- Develop environmental awareness among students
- Students to expand their knowledge of new materials that people would use.
- Students have long-term positive effects in terms of sustainable living.
- To contribute to the reduction of environmental pollution.
- They know how to plan an experiment and observation.
13-14 years
Time
Preparation time:
Activity 1 – 40 min.
Activity 2 – 40 min.
Activity 3 – 40 min. and 15 days reserch
Activity 4 - 40 min.
Teaching time:
2 weeks
- Each group has 5 students.
- Role allocation in groups 1, 2 and 3.
- First student is the leader of the group. It distributes the tasks of other members.
- The second - article acquires the necessary material for performing the experiment
- The third member- performs the experiment
- The fourth article will present the results of the experiment
- The fifth member records the results. The results are given to members of the 4th group to be placed on the graasp platform http://graasp.eu/
- graasp.eu/spaces/5bf879685c197d61b5337169
Investigation - Period of breakdown of bioplastics v/s plastic
Teaching material
Onlinе:
Make a reasearch using the app on the following links graasp.eu/spaces/5bf879685c197d61b5337169
Set up a hypothesis
Make a table for tracking results
Draw a graph according to the obtained data
Analyze the data
Make a conclusion
Have your hypothesis been confirmed
http://graasp.eu/
https://www.golabz.eu/app/hypothesis-scratchpad
https://www.golabz.eu/app/experiment-design-tool
https://www.golabz.eu/app/conclusion-tool
https://www.golabz.eu/app/data-viewer
https://www.golabz.eu/app/question-scratchpad
https://www.golabz.eu/app/table-tool
Offline:
People in the 21st century live in an era of plastic. Plastic tracks us at every step. It is used for food packaging, for manufacturing computers, clothing, cars, etc. For the production of plastics, 4 percent of the produced oil is spent annually. Only a small part of this type of plastic is recycled for reuse. This creates unwanted waste, which over the years pollutes the earth and the waters of our planet.
Bioplastics is a relatively new type of material that has appeared in commercial use in recent years. For most materials that are classified as bioplastics, plants are used as the basic raw material, so they are also biodegradable.
Currently, bioplastics are used mainly for the production of biofuels used for the transport of goods or for biological food packaging. Due to the relatively small or incomplete field research, the lack of large quantities of plants and the higher production prices, the expansion of the use of bioplastics is associated only with the developed countries. For developing countries it is largely a luxury that their people can not afford. The production of bioplastics is currently modest, only 300,000 tonnes per year, compared with the annual production of plain plastic, which amounts to 300 million tonnes. However, with increasing environmental awareness of the world's population and increasing interest in production in the near future, this new, environmentally friendly material could replace most of the conventional plastics. In this way, people will help our planet to regenerate and maintain it naturally.
Bioplastics is a shortened notion of biodegradable plastics whose parts are derived entirely or almost entirely from renewable raw materials, and the most common input materials are natural polymers, starch or cellulose. Bioplastics are those plastics that contain one or more biopolymeric materials as the basic substance and have similar characteristics as ordinary syringe polymers. However, the difference is that it has biodegradable material in the composition that decomposes after a certain period of time and therefore does not pollute the environment.
Starch
Starch is a natural white polysaccharide. It is the most common form of reserve food in plants. It consists of two components, unbranched amylose (20%) and branched amylopectin (80%). Soluble in water at higher temperatures. When cooking, starch molecules develop and form a viscous homogenous solution - a starch cake. When heated with dilute acids or under the action of enzymes, the starch first decays into dextrin, then in maltose and finally in glucose. The starch is slightly different from plant to plant, and its content varies. For example, the potato contains 23% starch and maize 22-28%.
Crystal (ethanolic acid)
The diluted (9%) acetic acid is carboxylic acid, with the formula - CH3COOH. It is a weak acid in a liquid aggregate state that mixes with water in all proportions and has a pungent odor. Used as a food preservative, acidity regulator, etc.
Glycerin
Propane-1,2,3-triol or glycerin is an alcohol. It is a dense, sweet, colorless liquid that is used to prepare cream and milk. It can also be a raw material for the production of explosives.
2.2 Factors affecting the emergence of bioplastics
a) Heat temperature
Temperature is a key factor in obtaining bioplasty, since the reaction between acetic acid and glycerol is endothermic, which means that the energy (heat) must be added to the course of the reaction. However, depending on the intensity of the heat, it determines how long it will form.
b) The ratio of the ingredients
Depending on the ratio of the ingredients, a different product will be obtained. For example, if we increase the percentage of starch, bioplasty will be a trigger, but if we increase the share of glycerin, it will be more flexible.
c) Intensity of mixing
For a reaction to run faster, the mixture of ingredients must be mixed. If we mix, the reaction will be faster, because the reactants provide a greater opportunity for successful interactions. This means that the mixing will stimulate the formation of bioplastics and will probably affect its mechanical properties.
Link - How to make bioplastics from milk
www.sciencebuddies.org/teacher-resources/lesson-plans/milk_into_plastic#summary
www.sciencebuddies.org/teacher-resources/lesson-plans/milk_into_plastic#summary
Links from You tube
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21st century skills
· Critical thinking and problem-solving;
· Collaboration and leadership;
· Effective oral and written communication;
· Accessing and analysing information;
· Curiosity and imagination;
· Initiative and entrepreneurialism;
· Agility and adaptability.
· Critical thinking and problem-solving;
· Collaboration and leadership;
· Effective oral and written communication;
· Accessing and analysing information;
· Curiosity and imagination;
· Initiative and entrepreneurialism;
· Agility and adaptability.
- Content knowledge and 21st-century themes;
- Learning and innovation skills (better known as the 4C’s);
- Information, media and technology skills;
- Life and career skills.
Assessment
1. Why is natural glycerine added to the recipe for bioplastics?
2. Why add glycerin?
3. How does the temperature affect the speed of the experiment?
Student feedback
1. What are the positive effects of bioplastics?
2. What is your opinion on the new materials?
3. Debate the topic „Bioplastics V/S plastic“
4. Making brochure - „Bioplastics V/S plastic“ on Microsoft Office Publicher
5. Write an essay - The Life Cycle of Bioplastics
Note* The lesson plan is made according to the latest MOOC of Scintix "STEM is Еverywhere"