Human Made Waste What is BIODEGRADABLE waste Todays

Human Made Waste { What is BIODEGRADABLE waste?

Today’s Essential Question: What is BIODEGRADABLE Waste?

Individual Assignment: In your Science Journal please answer today’s essential question: WHAT IS BIODEGRABLE WASTE? You have 3 minutes and 3 students will be asked to share.

The Science Game Show! Could 2 students please come up?

Question One: How long does it take for glass to decompose?

Answer: It can take glass up to 1 000 years to decompose! This is because the main ingredient in glass is silica, which is one of the hardest and most stable minerals on the Earth. Silica is the major component of sand, and glass is made of silica sand, lime and soda.

Answer, Part 2: In nature the glass would probably get crushed and pushed into the soil before too long (maybe one or two years), however there are pieces of glass There are pieces of glass in museums that are 4000 years old (from the year 2000 BC – 2000 years before the birth of Jesus!)

Answer, Part 3: Glass can last millions of years, but it also can be recycled and made into various products virtually endlessly. It is recycled by heating to temperatures as high as approximately 2, 800 degrees Fahrenheit; when glass melts, it can be molded into new shapes. However, different colors of glass have different ingredients with varying melting points. For this reason, glass is sorted by color to make the recycling effort more efficient. Recycling can limit the amount of space taken up in landfills by everlasting glass.

Question Two: How long does it take for plastic to decompose?

Answer: Different kinds of plastic can degrade at different times, but the average time for a plastic bottle to completely degrade is at least 450 years.

Answer, Part 2: It can even take some bottles 1000 years to biodegrade! That’s a long time for even the smallest bottle. 90% of bottles aren’t even recycled. Makes you think twice about that water or soda, right? Bottles made with Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET or PETE) will never biodegrade.

Answer, Part 3: And that’s what makes recycling plastic products so important! They use up our oil resources and clog up our landfills for hundreds –maybe thousands- of years!

Question Three: How long does it take an aluminum can to decompose?

Answer: It takes 500 years for an aluminum can to decompose!

Answer, Part 2: Fast Facts on Aluminum: 1) It is infinitely recyclable. 2) It is back on the shelf within 60 days 3) Making new aluminum cans from used cans takes 95 percent less energy than using virgin materials 4) Twenty recycled cans can be made with the energy needed to produce one can using virgin ore 5) Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to keep a 100 -watt bulb burning for almost four hours or run your television for three hours.

Answer, Part 3: So, we can recycle aluminum forever? Then why would we need to waste energy mining for more? Let’s remember to recycle all aluminum cans!

Individual Activity: Answer today’s essential question: What is BIODEGRADABLE waste? [5 minutes – volume 3]

3 students will share!

That’s it for today! Thanks for listening!