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A Century of Plastics

Elementary, Middle

Description

A Century of Plastics is a STEM activity that delves into the evolution of plastics and their impact in modern society.

Students explore the history of plastics, understand the role of plastics engineers and examine how various products have been enhanced through plastic components. Working collaboratively, they identify items that exist without plastics and those that couldn't have existed before plastics were invented.  To enhance their problem-solving and teamwork skills students engage in an engineering challenge to redesign a product and reduce its plastic content by 50%.

General Assessment

What skills does this resource explicitly teach?

The Focus of this resource is building STEM competencies.

Strengths

  • The instructions for teachers are extensive and easy to follow.
  • Student worksheets are ready to be printed and distributed to students.
  • The variety of activities addresses well the needs of visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners. 
  • Additional resources on the topic are provided. 

Weaknesses

  • Assessment tools are limited.
  • Accommodations for learners with difficulties are not provided 

Recommendation of how and where to use it

A Century of Plastics is an excellent resource to explore the properties and uses of plastics, linking to curriculum units on materials and their environmental impacts. The redesign challenge aligns with problem-solving and the engineering design process in STEM education.

Relevant Curriculum Units

The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.

Themes Addressed

Citizenship (1)

  • Sustainable Consumption

Waste Management (1)

  • Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Sustainability Education Principles

Principle Rating Explanation
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives Very Good

As this is a STEM lesson, students are presented with the necessary background information needed to proceed largely on their own to re-design product with a specific goal in mind.

Consideration of Alternative Perspectives:
  • Satisfactory: absence of bias towards any one point of view
  • Good: students consider different points of view regarding issues, problems discussed
  • Very good: based on the consideration of different views, students form opinions and  take an informed position
Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions Very Good

This lesson addresses the environmental, economic, and social dimensions of plastics by exploring their role in pollution, sustainability, affordability, and societal convenience. Through activities like the product redesign, students critically analyze the impact of plastics.

Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions:

Effectively addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the issue(s) being explored.

  • Satisfactory: resource supports the examination of  these dimensions
  • Good:  resource explicitly examines the interplay of these dimensions
  • Very Good:  a systems-thinking approach is encouraged to examine these three dimensions
Respects Complexity Good

The students are introduced to the product engineering design. They are encouraged to design test and re-design if needed, just as engineers do when trying to solve design issues. 

Respects Complexity:

The complexity of the problems/issues being discussed is respected.

Acting on Learning Poor/Not considered

The focus of this resource is really to build STEM skills and competencies. 

Acting on Learning:

Learning moves from understanding  issues  to working towards positive change — in personal lifestyle, in school, in the community,  or for the planet

  • Satisfactory: action opportunities are included as extensions 
  • Good: action opportunities are core components of the resource
  • Very Good: action opportunities for students are well supported and intended to result in observable, positive change
Values Education Very Good

The students are given the opportunity to explore their own ideas and thoughts during their redesign of a product or machine. 

Values Education:

Students are explicitly provided with opportunities to identify, clarify and express their own beliefs/values.

Empathy & Respect for Humans Poor/Not considered

Students will get the opportunity to discover careers within the engineering field.

Empathy & Respect for Humans: Empathy and respect are fostered for diverse groups of humans (including different genders, ethnic groups, sexual preferences, etc.).
Personal Affinity with Earth Satisfactory

This lesson encourages a personal affinity with the natural world by prompting students to consider the environmental consequences of plastic use.

Personal Affinity with Earth:

Encourages a personal affinity with -the natural world.  

  • Satisfactory: connection is made to the natural world
  • Good: fosters appreciation/concern for the natural world
  • Very Good: fosters stewardship though practical and respectful experiences out-of-doors 
Locally-Focused Learning Poor/Not considered

This is not a focus of the resource.  However, teachers could adapt the lesson to incorporate local recycling programs, community waste management initiatives, or examples of local businesses reducing plastic use.

Locally-Focused Learning:

Includes learning experiences that take advantage of issues/elements within the local community. 

  • Satisfactory: learning is made relevant to the lives of the learners
  • Good: learning is made relevant and has a local focus
  • Very Good: learning is made relevant, local and takes place ‘outside’ , in the community 
Past, Present & Future Very Good

In this resource, students will

  • explore the historical evolution of plastics and their transformative role in modern society.
  • analyze current environmental, economic, and societal challenges related to plastic use.
  • consider sustainable alternatives through the redesign challenge, fostering innovation and hope for a more sustainable world.
Past, Present & Future: Promotes an understanding of the past, a sense of the present, and a positive vision for the future.

Pedagogical Approaches

Principle Rating Explanation
Open-Ended Instruction Very Good

The students are encouraged to think for themselves. They brainstorm, develop and test their ideas and then share them with the class. 

Open-Ended Instruction :

Lessons are structured so that multiple/complex answers are possible; students are not steered toward one 'right' answer.

Integrated Learning Good

This resource supports science, technology and engineering outcomes. 

Integrated Learning:

Learning brings together content and skills  from more than one  subject area

  • Satisfactory: content from a number of different  subject areas is readily identifiable
  • Good:  resource is appropriate for use in more than one subject area
  • Very Good:  the lines between subjects are blurred 
Inquiry Learning Good

The students are provided with the design challenge and the materials. They then proceed to create their own design and find solutions to the problems they may encounter. 

Inquiry Learning:

Learning is directed by questions, problems, or challenges that students work to address.   

  • Satisfactory: Students are provided with questions/problems to solve and some direction on how to arrive at solutions.
  • Good: students, assisted by the teacher clarify the question(s) to ask and the process to follow to arrive at solutions.  Sometimes referred to as Guided Inquiry
  • Very Good:  students generate the questions and assume much of the responsibility for how to solve them.  . Sometimes referred to as self-directed learning.

 

Differentiated Instruction Satisfactory

The lesson addresses very well the needs of most learners.  However, there are no suggestions for accommodations for those students who may experience difficulties with the content. 

Differentiated Instruction:

Activities address a range of student learning styles, abilities and readiness.

  • Satisfactory:  includes a variety of instructional approaches
  • Good: addresses  the needs of visual, auditory &  kinesthetic learners
  • Very Good: also includes strategies for learners with difficulties
Experiential Learning Very Good

This resource involves students in a hands-on approach to an important and authentic issue. 

Experiential Learning:

Authentic learning experiences are provided

  • Satisfactory: learning takes place through ‘hands-on’ experience or simulation
  • Good: learning involves direct experience in a ‘real world context’
  • Very good: learning involves ‘real world experiences’ taking place’ beyond the school walls.
Cooperative Learning Satisfactory

Students work in groups to complete the activity. 

Cooperative Learning:

Group and cooperative learning strategies are a priority.

  • Satisfactory:  students work in groups
  • Good: cooperative learning skills are explicitly taught and practiced
  • Very Good: cooperative learning skills are explicitly taught, practiced and assessed
Assessment & Evaluation Poor/Not considered

There is a student worksheet provided with reflection questions that can be used as an assessment tool. It would be beneficial for the teacher to create a rubric based on the design constraints and other important criteria.

Assessment & Evaluation: Tools are provided that help students and teachers to capture formative and summative information about students' learning and performance. These tools may include reflection questions, checklists, rubrics, etc.
Peer Teaching Satisfactory

Students will present their ideas to their peers. 

Peer Teaching:

Provides opportunities for students to actively present their knowledge and skills to peers and/or act as teachers and mentors.

  • Satisfactory: incidental teaching that arises from cooperative learning, presentations, etc.
  • Good or Very Good: an opportunity is intentionally created to empower students to teach other students/community members. The audience is somehow reliant on the students' teaching (students are not simply ‘presenting')
Case Studies Satisfactory

While the lesson does not explicitly provide detailed case studies, its focus on examining real products and their dependence on plastics allows students to contextualize concepts authentically.

Case Studies:

Relevant case studies are included.  Case studies are thorough descriptions of real events from real situations that students use to explore  concepts in an authentic context.

Locus of Control Very Good

The students are allowed autonomy in creating their design. There are links and resources provided should the class, teacher or individual student wish to explore the issue further. 

Locus of Control: Meaningful opportunities are provided for students to choose elements of program content, the medium in which they wish to work, and/or to go deeper into a chosen issue.

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