What are they? How are they used? Plastics What are they? How are they used?

Why is plastic fantastic? What does it do?

Fantastic plastic

Fantastic plastic

How many plastic items do you use everyday?

How long have we been using plastic for? Have some guesses in your group. Prizes for the group with the closest year!

Did YOU KNOW? Plastic has only been around since 1925 – not even 100 years. People only really began using plastic in 1958 Plastic bags were first used in shops in 1961!

How is it made? http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zvg3cdm http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zjhd2hv

BONUS POINTS – can you add a date to these events? Timeline task In your groups – can you work out and sequence when these key events took place? BONUS POINTS – can you add a date to these events?

Timeline 1925 – The word plastic used for the first time 1939 - Nylon was created 1959 – First Barbie doll created 1958 – Tupperware begins to be recognised worldwide and adverts begin to occur 1961 – Plastic bags first begin to be used in shops 1976 – Plastic recognised as the most common material worldwide for the first time 1978 – Most shops using plastic bags instead of paper bags 1990/2000’s – Concern growing with the amount of plastic being wasted every year 2008 – China and America begin to ban plastic bags 2015 – All supermarkets in England stop giving out free plastic bags, instead charging 5p per bag

Timeline 1862: In London, the Great International Exhibition is held and Alexander Parkes introduces the first man made plastic to the public.  This was a very important first step towards the plastic dominated world we live in today because it opened the eyes of the world to the possibilities of plastic. 1869: American inventor John W. Hyatt makes 18 the first successful plastic product, celluloid. This new plastic entered production in 1872. The reason celluloid was considered to be successful is because the two previous plastics introduced before this were made at very high costs and led to bankruptcies.    1908:  Jacques E. Brandenberger, Swiss textile engineer invented cellophane which is a clear and protective packaging plastic. Cellophane is still a very popular plastic of today.  1941: Research experts that worked for Dow’s Chemical Physics lab discovered a way to produce foamed polystyrene, otherwise known as Styrofoam. This was a big moment in the history of the  natural environment because Styrofoam is known for being very detrimental to the Mother Nature, as it does not disintegrate well. 1961: Keep America Beautiful uses funding from makers of single use plastic bags to run a series of very effective public service announcements to shift the blame for pollution from distributors to bag consumers.  1977: The plastic bag is introduced to the grocery industry as an alternate option to paper shopping bags.  June 1st, 2008: The government of China places a ban on plastic bags. The ban has supposedly saved 6 million tons of oil.  2008: The world’s population discarded approximately over 3.5 million tons of plastic bags.  October 1st, 2012: San Francisco places ban on plastic bags. They are the first city in the United States to do this.  May 1st, 2013: The city of Eugene places a ban on all plastic bags that are thinner than 4 mils.

World to the possibilities of plastics. Who created it? Alexander Parkes introduces the first man made plastic to the public. It opened the eyes of the World to the possibilities of plastics.

Tupperware 1958 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0umSUhWebiQ

How has it changed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW3OGMZ1bWc Clip –watch from: 00.00 – 0.47 1.40 -3.29

Fantastic changes to plastic The government introduced a plastic bag charge on 5th October 2015 In 2014 over 7.6 billion single-use plastic bags were given to customers by major supermarkets in England. That’s something like 140 bags per person, the equivalent of about 61,000 tonnes in total. England's plastic bag usage drops 85% since 5p charge introduced WOW!