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Beneficial Bioplastics

Provided by: EarthEcho International

Lesson Plans Grades 3-5, 6-8

Synopsis

In this lesson, students will learn about the history of plastics, the problems that plastic pollution causes, and how bioplastics can contribute to the solution.
Students will understand the different kinds of plastics, identify single-use plastics, learn about hidden plastics, see an example of a bioplastics company located in Mexico, and participate in an experiment where they will create their own bioplastic.
The resource includes a few short videos, worksheets, and presentation slides to help students understand the information.

Related Teaching Resources

Subjects: Science

Authors: EarthEcho International

Region: South and Central America, Global

Languages: English

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Teaching Materials

Positives

Students will love using their hands to create a bioplastic.
The resource includes a few kid-friendly explanations for complicated topics, such as chemical changes.

Prerequisites

Students should understand the states of matter enough to differentiate between a solid and a liquid.

Differentiation & Implementation

The History of Plastics video explains that we should find alternative materials to fossil fuel-based plastics because we will eventually run out of fossil fuels. Teachers can expand on this idea by introducing students to climate change and the greenhouse effect, highlighting the importance of reducing all fossil fuel use to avoid serious impacts. The Introduction to Climate Change video can help illustrate this idea.
Teachers can also expand on the environmental impacts of plastic. If class time is available, the Ocean Plastics Unit (3-5) is an extensive resource for learning about plastic pollution and its effect on wildlife.
Students can also discuss reducing the use of plastic in general. Students can look at their list of single-use plastics and brainstorm ideas to avoid using them. Teachers can model this with the Making Bioplastics activity if they are not using the plastic bag. Teachers can script their thinking out loud, saying that they could use a plastic bag, but they have something else that doesn't need to get thrown away afterward.

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Resource Type and Format

About the Partner Provider

EarthEcho International

EarthEcho International envisions a world where every individual has the opportunity and tools to create a healthy and thriving environment. To that end, their mission is to build a global youth movement to protect and restore our ocean planet. Their Academy is a new virtual learning space developed to provide online courses for teacher professional learning with access to fully remote, asynchronous environmental education modules for students.