Student Activity 2
Objective: Students will research plastics and create a new coding system for recycling plastics.
Essential Questions: What is plastic? How do we dispose of it? How does it affect human health?
Procedure:
- Students will research plastics used in food packaging and will discover the dangerous chemicals: BPA and DEHP. Generate a class list of questions to guide reading.
- ttp://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/saving/recycling/solidwaste/plastics.html
- ttp://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/114/bpa
- ttp://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/77/plastics
- Have students research how plastics are disposed: http://www.satyamag.com/apr07/moore.html
- ttp://science.howstuffworks.com/great-pacific-garbage-patch.htm#
- Investigate the recycling coding system and determine if it is sufficient. http://www.nontoxiclife.com.au/pdf/SAFE%20USE%20OF%20PLASTICS%20QUICK%20GUIDE.pdf
- ttp://www.ides.com/resources/plastic-recycling-codes.asp
- Students should then design a new coding system (guide students to include chemical dangers associated with plastic food packaging).
Closure: Some plastics are dangerous to our health and environment. They contain chemicals such as BPA and DEHP which can cause cancer, behavior disorders, and reproductive problems. These chemicals leach into our food from packaging and into our water through landfill leaching. The new coding systems should help warn people of the dangers so they can make informed choices when purchasing food packaged in plastic. What if we could also reduce our use of plastic?
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