PO LY STY R E N E PAC KAG I N G

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1 PO LY STY R E N E PAC KAG I N G &THE ENVIRONMENT CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES SOURCE BOOK A resource provided to teachers by the Poly sty re ne Packaging Co u nci I 1275 K Street, NW, Suite Washington, DC *

2 P RE FAC E L This resource is a compendium of information and educational resources designed to help teachers educate students about polystyrene packaging and the environment. The Polystyrene Packaging Council (PSPC) has prepared this guide as a reference tool for teachers (who do not have the time or resources to review the large number of materials available on these topics). The Sourcebook is separated into two parts: classroom activities, and curriculum materials available from a variety of sources. All materials are categorized by appropriate grade level, and information is provided on what the materials cover, how to order them, and how much they cost. The Polystyrene Packaging Council is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit trade association dedicated to providing accurate information on the environmental impact of polystyrene packaging, including the growing number of polystyrene recycling programs nationwide. PSPC s membership includes manufacturers of polystyrene resin, polystyrene foam and rigid food service packaging, and polystyrene protective shape-molded and loose-fill packaging. We are indebted to the National Science Teachers Association Committee on Preschool-Elementary Science Teaching, the Committee on Middle-Level Science Teaching and the Committee on High School Science Teaching for their review of, and recommendations on this second edition of the Sourcebook. TABLE OF CONTENTS HOT I S HOT, COLD IS NOT PACE 3 Keeping things hot or cold requires certain insulation properties. With this lesson and accompanying experiment, students learn how packages insulate to maintain temperature. Recommended for grades K-8. EGC-XACTLY RIGHT PACE 3 Why are products packaged in different types of materials? This lesson teaches how the characteristics of a product determine the type and extent of its packaging. Recommended for grades K-8. CU R R I CU L UM MATE R I A LS PAGE 4-5 REUSE OR RECYCLE - WHICH DO YOU DO? PACE 6 How does your school cafeteria serve lunch? This lesson encourages students to research the benefits of reusable or disposable foodservice ware for their school. Recommended for grades K-8. RECYCLING BY THE NUMBERS PACE 6 Plastic comes in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors and densities. This lessons helps children learn the different characteristics of the plastic resin codes that appear on packaging. Recommended for grades K-8. PACKAGING PARTICULARS PACE 7 Why can t toothpaste come in a jar? Or peanut butter in a bag? This lesson helps students determine what is an appropriate type of packaging by analyzing the products. Recommended for high school.

3 CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES- This section contains classroom activities designed to provide school children with hands-on experiences with polystyrene packaging and other materials. These activities deal with today's concerns about recycling and source reduction, as well as the diverse characteristics of polystyrene. We hope these activities, which have been designed with the guidance of teachers nationwide, will be helpful and informative for your students. Please be aware that not all activities are suitable for all age groups. Some activities involve using materials or techniques that require adult supervision. K eeping things hot or cold takes certain qualities. Some materials insulate better than others, while some offer no insulation at all. To determine how well a material insulates, have your students try the following simple group experiments. Give each team a glass, paper, metal and polystyrene foam cup. Have each team boil water and pour it into each cup. Have the students time the temperature loss in each cup, being sure to write down the elapsed time and temperature at each interval (one minute). Did one cup keep the water hotter longer? Which allowed the water to cool the fastest? Have the students record, or graph, their observations in a chart. Try the same experiment with different types and densities of liquids (syrup, fruit juice, soda). Did the density of the liquid affect the heat loss? Did the same cup that kept the water hottest also keep the other liquids hottest? Again, have the student record their observations on a chart or graph. The same experiment can also be used to measure temperature change in cold liquids. Ask the students to think about and draw some conclusions as to why one cup might be a better insulator than another. W hy are products packaged in different types of materials? Some require boxes, others need only bags, and still others require nothing at all. The type of product usually dictates the type and extent of packaging required: fragile items require more packaging, while durable items require little or none. Not all materials are practical for protecting products. Tell students to test various packaging materials by assigning them the task of protecting an uncooked egg. Divide the class into teams, assigning each team a different material (paper, cardboard, polystyrene, plastic, metal, wood). Ask the students in each group to design and build a package, primarily from the assigned material, that will protect the egg from breaking when dropped from a certain height. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

4 CURRICULUM MA: TOPIC TITLE GRADES SPONSOR HOW TO ORDER let s Reduce & Recycle: A K-12 U.S. Environmental Protection OSW Publications (OS-305) Curriculum for Solid Waste Agency, Office of Solid Waste Office of Solid Waste, U.S. EPA, 40 1 M Management St., SW, Washington, DC School Programs: A K-12 U.S. Environmental Protection OSW Publications (OS-305) Handbook for Educators Agency, Office of Solid Waste Office of Solid Waste, U.S. EPA, 401 M St., SW, Washington, DC Ride the Wave of the Future: K-12 U.S. Environmental Protection OSW Publications (OS-305) Recycle Today! Agency, Office of Solid Waste Office of Solid Waste, U.S. EPA, 401 M St., SW, Washington, DC How to Set Up a School K-12 American Plastics Council American Plastics Council, 1275 K St., Program NW, #400, Washington, DC Adventures of the Garbage U.S. Environmental Protection OSW Publications (OS-305) Gremlin Agency, Office of Solid Waste Office of Solid Waste, U.S. EPA, 401 M St., SW, Washington, DC Classroom Activities on 6-9 American Plastics Council American Plastics Council, K St., Plastics & Solid Waste NW, #400, Washington, DC Management Recyc I i n g Convenience Recycled Polystyrene Packaging Council Polystyrene Packaging Council, 1275 K St., NW, #400, Washington, DC Source Should I Feel Guilty? Foodservice & Packaging FPI, 1901 N. Moore St., # , Reduction Institute Arlington, VA Landfills Ohio Science Workbook: Litter Ohio Academy of Science Ohio Academy of Science, 1500 West Prevention and Third Ave., #223, Columbus, OH

5 ERIALS AVAILABLE PHONE COST CONTENTS RCRA Hotline 1 (800) Free Covers value of natural resources, importance of recycling, and responsibility each person bears for generation and disposal of trash. Includes series of related lessons with vocabulary words, discussion questions, and projects. Hand-outs, worksheets, clip art, glossary and a script for short skit are included. RCRA Hotline 1 (800) Free Describes school recycling program and provides step-by-step instructions on how to set up a program. Focuses on implementing actual recycling projects and highlights success stories from around the country. RCRA Hotline 1 (800) Free A colorful classroom poster stressing importance of recycling. Designed to appeal to all grade levels. Developed by EPA and National Science Teachers Association. 1 (800) 2-HELP-90 Free [In DC call (202) page booklet provides steps for creating and maintaining an effective recycling program. Includes case studies of successful programs, as well as information on budgets, markets for recyclables and ways of motivating students to participate in a recycling program. RCRA Hotline 1 (800) Free A 14-page comic book that discusses the advantages of recycling. Readers follow the "Garbage Grem- lin" in his search for a new home when his dumpster is emptied by a trash collection truck. Includes games and puzzles to test what students have learned. 1 (800) 2-HELP-90 Free [In DC call (202) This workbook contains four classroom activities dealing with food packaging, plastic resins, recycling and source reduction. Each activity provides clearly stated objectives, materials needed and background information for easy planning. (202) $15 15-minute video addresses the issue of plastics (specifically polystyrene) in the solid waste stream. (I Free to Discusses questions of plastic or paper and looks at the current polystyrene recycling process and future Teachers) uses of recycled polystyrene. $20 (Free to Teachers) Video discusses the issue of reusables versus disposables and examines the environmental trade-offs and the conservation of natural resources. Focuses on issues of litter, family health and the ozone layer. Brochure offers questions and discussion ideas. $5 Features 26 student research projects dealing with topics of landfills, litter, recycling and energy recovery to name a few. Each research project lists background information, states the problem to be solved and includes supporting references and resources.

6 CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES ECG-XACTLY RIGHT (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3) Allow the students about a week to design and build the package. At the end of the week, have each team drop its package, with egg aboard, from a height of three feet. Those packages that effectively protect the egg move on to round two - being dropped from four feet. Continue this process, adding one foot for each new round, until only one package is left. Discuss the design of the winning package with the class. Will this design work for each material? Try it. Have each team use the same design, but with their assigned materials. Drop the packages from three feet, then four, etc. Discuss the results with the class. Why did the one design work for some of the materials and not others? S chool, hospital, and other institutional cafeterias have been grappling with the question of which is most beneficial - reusable foodservice items (ceramic plates, glasses, and metal utensils) or single-service paper or plastic items. Which types of items does your cafeteria use? Do you know why? Discuss this idea with your students and, as a whole, come up with some questions to ask the foodservice director in your school as to how he/she came to the decision. Discuss things like costs (including energy to wash and dry the dishes or make the single-serve items, labor to wash and store the dishes or collect and take away the recyclables, the materials themselves), setting up a recycling system, sanitation, etc. Discuss who else it would be appropriate to ask about these questions (i.e. hospital cafeteria manager, restaurant manager, foodservice director for your school system, as well as surrounding systems). Once the class has decided on the appropriate questions and people to talk to, assign each student a person to interview. Allow the students one week to contact and interview their person. At the end of the week, ask each student to submit a brief report on the interview. P lastic comes in a variety of shapes, sizes, textures, colors and densities. Even products made from the same type of plastic can have different characteristics. Because of these various qualities, not all plastics can be recycled together. Each type of plastic has a specific resin identification code used in sorting - polystyrene's code is a "6" surrounded by the chasing arrows. A complete list of the plastic resin codes is on the next page. As a homework assignment, divide the class into groups and assign each group one of the plastics represented by a code. Assign each group various tasks to learn about that plastic - have each member of the group bring in one or two items that have the resin code; have group members research that particular plastic in the library (i.e., the

7 CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES- definition, what is made from it, what it can be recycled into); have the group put together a poster showing the results of the research and present their findings to the class. Encourage the students to be as creative as possible in their presentations and their posters. Polyethylene Terephthalate [PET] (soda bottles) low Density Polyethylene (bread, produce &garment bags) LDPE High Density Polyethylene (milkiugs, detergent containers) Polypropylene (yogurt containers; storage containers) HDPE Vinyl/Polyvinyl Chloride [PVC] (cooking oil Polystyrene (foam cups; egg cartons; meat trays) V & All other resins and layered multi-material OTHER H ave you ever wondered why a product is in the type of package it is in? Why can t toothpaste come in a jar? Or peanut butter in a bag? Deciding on the appropriate type of packaging means analyzing the various materials available and determining which would allow the product to perform at its best. To do that, one must first know what the product is supposed to do, and the many qualities and characteristics of the available packaging materials. Ask each student in your class to choose a different product (try to get as diverse an assortment of products as possible.) Explain that each student will pretend that he/she is the manager for that product at ABC Marketing Corp. His/Her boss (you, the teacher) has just put him/her in charge of coming up with a new package for this product. To do that, the student must first analyze the product and decide what exactly it does and what forms, other than its current form, the product could come in. Second, the student, must decide what the packaging requirements and/or restrictions will be (i.e., is it liquid? Does the consumer have to touch it? Does it have to be protected from air or heat? Does it have to be poured or scooped or spread? Does it need to be refrigerated? Is it heavy or light?) Next, have the students analyze the various materials available for packaging (glass, aluminum, steel, paper, cardboard, plastic bottles or bags, polystyrene, etc.) and come up with a new package that would meet the needs of their product. Have them consider some of the following: Will the consumer be able to handle the package safely? Will all of the product be used up in the new form of package? Will the product have to be refrigerated? What about heat? Can the package be put in the oven? is the product safe for children? If not, is the package child-proof? Ask the students to look at their package from as many different perspectives as possible. Once the students have decided on their new packages, tell them that the boss is expecting a complete presentation to the Board of Directors of the company (the rest of the class), outlining their decisions and rationale for the packaging they chose. If possible, ask the students to build or put together their package. If not, have them diagram the package for their presentation. c)

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