1. Science, Society & You (Word Gen Day)
SWBAT: Cite costs and benefits of using different products.

2. Initial Activity
Have you ever wondered what happens to the materials that people recycle? In 1990, a builder decided to use some of these materials to build his house in Montana. Some of these materials are florescent bulb casings, car windshield glass, wood chips that would usually be discarded, sawdust, and plastic milk jugs. Many houses built today might include recycled materials.
Question: What other
products or structures could
be made from recycled
materials?

3. Being an informed consumer
If you have ever bought something at a store, you are a consumer.
To become an “informed consumer” you need to know if the items you are buying are safe to use.
Science can help you understand how products work, if they need to be fixed, and how to protect yourself in the future.

4. Becoming an Informed citizen
Before you can make a claim or decision in science, you need to think about the benefits and costs.
A cost is a negative result for taking or not taking an action.
A benefit is a positive consequence for taking or not taking an action.

5. Product Costs and Benefits
In citing a products costs and benefits, different people can have different opinions.
These opinions are based on evidence from background research. You can also form an opinion based on data presented from an experiment.

6. Why is Nina researching Hybrid cars?
Why is it important to evaluate data?

7. Experimental cars run on fuel other than gasoline.
Identify one cost and one benefit for a car using fuel other than gasoline.

8. Cell Phones are Common Electronic Devices
Identify one cost and one benefit for students having a cell phone.

9. Thinking Scientifically-
Mr. Seemy and his class were talking about the plastic and paper bags that most people get from the grocery store each
time they go. Chantel cited her reason for using paper bags instead of plastic. “Most plastic bags take at least a hundred
years to break down and be absorbed by the earth.”
“Interesting point, Chantel,” responded Mr. Seemy, “but I just read about a new kind of plastic made from corn that is
supposed to break down more quickly. It’s biodegradable.”
“Switching to corn plastic could be a strategy to help with the problem of too much trash in landfills,” said Chantel. “I think
we should phase out regular plastic bags.”
“Not so fast, Chantel,” said Mr. Seemy. “You shouldn’t make a claim just because your teacher mentioned an article. Let’s do
some research to find out more. Maybe someone in our class can help by doing an experiment and collecting some data.”

10. Student’s Experiment
Question: Do paper bags, regular plastic bags, and biodegradable plastic bags break down at different rates?
Hypothesis: Paper bags and biodegradable plastic bags will break down faster than regular plastic bags.
How are Chantel and Angelo going to test their hypothesis?
What materials do they need?
Why are they conducting this experiment?

11. Let’s look at the experiment data..
In this experiment:
What was the Independent Variable?
What was the Dependent Variable?
What was kept the same? (Controlled/Constant)
Describe the results of the experiment.

12. Based on this experiment:
1. Do Chantel and Angelo’s data tell you anything that relates to their hypothesis?
2. The students cut out 2,000 milligram samples of each bag material.
Why is it important that the samples have the same mass?

13. Mass Vs. Size How is mass different from size?
Mass = How much matter is in an item
Size = The length, width, and height of an item (volume)

14. Think- Pair- Share
Even if paper bags biodegrade quickly, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are the best choice for the environment.
Why do you think these issues are so complex (difficult)?
Do you think scientists can help with these problems?
Identify some costs and benefits to using paper bags.