A World of Plastic

- But why?
The project this week is about waste management and sustainable living, as an individual
and as a society. You will be asked to consider needs versus wants, the difference between
possible and plausible and what you consider reasonable. All while learning about science,
technology, engineering and mathematics through an applied real-world problem.

We have prepared 8 different subtopics to be distributed amongst the groups and this page
represents the starting point for one of these projects:

Problem:
Problem area:
Plastic is everywhere. It is used in numerous packaging applications including containers,
bottles, drums, trays, boxes, cups and vending packaging, baby products and protection
packaging.
Plastic is an organic product made from raw oil, and is generally made into one of seven
main types of plastic, where some are reusable and some are not. Often products are made
with a mix of plastic types making recycling very difficult.
Despite being an organic material, plastic takes between 10 and 1000 years to degrade back
into carbon dioxide and water in nature, assuming it degrades at all. Plastic is made from
long strings of polymers linked together and sometimes the gradual (incomplete)
degradation simply splits the plastic into microscopical pieces that are much harder for us to
handle. These pieces are called microplast and our oceans, rivers and forests are filled with
it. The adverse effects on our environment has become very clear and something must be
done!

Problem definition:
Why does so much of the worlds plastic end up in nature and how can we ensure a
sustainable use of plastic products going forward?

Suggested paths and questions to pursue:

- Plastic in ocean gyres, forests and rivers?
- Why do we use plastic that cannot be recycled? (the seven types of plastic)
- Which kind of plastic products are most common to find in nature and why?
- What is the problem with microplast and how do we handle it?

Sources:
https://www.unenvironment.org/interactive/beat-plastic-pollution/
https://plasticoceans.org/
https://www.theworldcounts.com/stories/pollution-from-plastic

C5:DK
Criteria and specifications:
Present your findings/ideas and products to a group of smaller children on friday. You have
about 8 minutes for every round. There will be 8 rounds. Use your creativity to win the
contest, since the best group wins a present.
- In english
- 7-8 minutes per presentation
- An appealing presentation (maybe with interactive elements?)
- Use visuals and paper models or show experiments
- Understandable for younger children

C5:DK