Preface
This resource is a compendium of information and educational resources designed to help teachers educate students about polystyrene packaging and the environment. This guide serves 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 Plastics Food Service Packaging Group of the American Chemistry Council is dedicated to providing accurate information on the environmental impact of polystyrene packaging, including polystyrene recycling programs. Plastics Food Service Packaging Group membership includes manufacturers of polystyrene resin, polystyrene foam and rigid food service 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 information.
If you are looking for innovative ways for children to learn more about plastics, the Plastics Division of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) has developed your virtual plastics classroom at Teaching Plastics. This comprehensive site offers background information on polymer chemistry, as well as the award-winning Hands On Plastics activities. Hands On Plastics (middle school level) and Hands On Plastics, Jr. (elementary school level) offer many unique and interactive online activities for students to engage with plastics and chemistry. The site also offers FREE lesson plans and companion kits for educators.
Lessons For Students
Hot is Hot, Cold is Not
Egg-xactly Right
Reuse or Recycle- Which Do You Do?
Recycling by the Numbers
Packaging Particulars
Keeping 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.
Egg-xactly Right
Why 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 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.
Allow the students about a week to design and build the package. At the end of the week, have each team drop their 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 material. 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?
Reuse Or Recycle -- Which Do You Do?
School, hospital, and other institutional cafeterias have been grappling with the question of which is most beneficial - reusable food service 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 food service 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 whom else it would be appropriate to ask about these questions (i.e. hospital cafeteria manager, restaurant manager, food service 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.
Recycling By the Numbers
Plastic 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 follows below.
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 that resin code; have group members research that particular plastic in the library (i.e., the 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.
(1) Polyethylene Terephthalate [PET] (soda bottles)
(2) High Density Polyethylene (milk jugs, detergent containers)
(3) Vinyl/Polyvinyl Chloride [PVC] (cooking oil containers)
(4) Low Density Polyethylene (bread, produce & garment bags)
(5) Polypropylene (yogurt containers; storage containers)
(6) Polystyrene (foam cups; egg cartons; meat trays)
(7) All other resins and layered multi-material
Have 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 childproof? 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.
