Lesson Name: Biodegradable vs.

Non-biodegradable Items
Duration of Lesson: 30 minutes

NGSS Performance Expectation(s): List the complete text of the standard (s).

Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air,
and/or other living things in the local environment. (K-ESS3-3)

NGSS Disciplinary Core Idea:

Things that people do to live comfortably can affect the world around them. But they can
make choices that reduce their impacts on the land, water, air, and other living things.
(K.ESS3.C)

NGSS Science and Engineering Practice(s):

Communicate solutions with others in oral and/or written forms using models and/or
drawings that provide detail about scientific ideas. (K-ESS3-3)

Crosscutting Concept(s):

Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology: People encounter questions

about the natural world every day. (K-ESS3-2)

Learning Objectives/Goals:
Students will investigate what types of materials biodegrade in the “soil”. The students
will note what happens to the objects when they biodegrade. The students will write and
explain their ideas.

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 Resources, Materials, and Grouping:
Materials:
- Biodegradable Packaging Peanuts (23 - 1 for each student)
- Styrofoam peanuts (23 - 1 for each student)
- Coins (23 - 1 for each student)
- Cups of water (23 total - 1 for each student)
- worksheets

Materials Management:
- The teacher will provide cups of water for each student. The students will all be sitting
at their desks with a cup of water and the three items (biodegradable peanuts, styrofoam
peanuts, and a coin).
- At their desks, the students will get the opportunity to put the items (styrofoam packag-
ing peanut, styrofoam peanut, and a coin) in the cup of water.
- If the cups of water happen to turn color once the objects are put in, the teacher will
dump that water and pour some fresh water.

Differentiated Instruction:
All students are capable of doing this task on their own. If there are students who need
assistance, there will be help provided. The teacher will make sure to model what is need-
ed for this lesson as well. There is no need for differentiation for this assignment.

Assessments:

After students have conducted the experiment, the teacher will hand back the worksheets
that the students were working on before. On the worksheet, the students will draw and
write in the box where it says, what actually happened. If there are students who finish
early and would like to challenge them, they can draw and write in the box, why do you
think it happened. The students will also explain their thinking by writing in the boxes on
the next page as well.

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INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE
[Please use bullets here. You do not need to “script” your entire lesson but include
enough detail that a substitute teacher could teach your lesson for you.]

Instruction [Engage]:

• In this lesson, the students will have the opportunity to feel differences between metal,
plastic and biodegradable products. In order for the process to move at a faster rate, the
teacher will have students feel and use a styrofoam peanut, biodegradable packaging
peanut, and a coin for this experiment. As the students are feeling these different items,
the teacher will ask the students questions such as, “What differences do you feel with
these three items? What do you think would happen to each item if we were to bury the-
se three items in soil/dirt for a very long time?” The teacher will write down the stu-
dents’ ideas on an easel chart paper for all the students to see.

• Once the students have shared their ideas with the class, the teacher will explain to the
students that in order to speed up the process and show a quick way of how biodegrada-
ble materials biodegrade, we will use smaller items that are similar to the three types of
spoons. These smaller items will be used instead because the process of biodegrading
will go faster with the smaller items rather than the larger spoons. The biodegradable
styrofoam peanuts are a reliable item to use because it speeds up the process and shows
students what would happen if these products were left underground for a long period of
time. The water in this experiment speeds up the process for the packaging peanuts.

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 Instruction [Explore]:
• In today’s experiment, we are going to investigate what items biodegrade.The materials
that the teacher is going to be focusing on is the biodegradable Styrofoam packaging
peanuts. The reason why this material will be used is because in the water, the packag-
ing peanuts biodegrade at a faster rate. The packaging peanuts are comparable to the bi-
odegradable spoon (avocado pit spoon). The teacher will also use a coin because it is
comparable to a metal spoon. Lastly, the teacher will use a math cube because it is com-
parable to the plastic spoon. The other items will be used instead so that the process of
biodegrading will go at a faster rate.

• The teacher will have all of the materials already prepped and sitting at the students
desk. The teacher will call students according to the colored row that they are sitting in
on the carpet. One row at a time will tip toe to their desk to wait for further instructions.
At each desk, every student will have their own packaging peanut, coin, and styrofoam
peanut. The teacher will write down the items in order that need to be placed in the wa-
ter. The first item that the students will be putting in the cup of water is the styrofoam
peanut. The students will have the opportunity to observe what is happening with the
item and the water. Once the students have observed that first item, the next item in the
water will be the coin. The same process will continue all the way till the biodegradable
packaging peanut is placed in the water. During this observation time, the students are
taking note of what is happening to each item. The teacher will walk around the room to
get different students perspective on the three items.

• Once the students have completed this task and have observed all of the items, they will
go back to their desks to fill out the rest of the worksheet. On the first page, the students
will draw in the following space where it says, what actually happened? On the second
page, the students will explain their thinking by writing their ideas for the same space as
well. If there are students who finish early and are waiting for their classmates, they can
challenge themselves to complete the box, why do you think it happened?

Instruction [Explain]:

 Then the class will come back together and discuss what happened to each items
once they dropped them each into the water.

 Questions: What happened to the coin? What happened to the styrofoam peanut?
What happened to the Biodegradable Packaging Peanuts?, Why do you think that
happened?

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 Instruction [Closure]:

 To end the lesson, the teacher will have students sit on the carpet to have a class
discussion. It is important for everyone to realize that the trash we create does not
just magically disappear. The following questions in this class discussion will be:
Who can tell me the difference between biodegradable and non-biodegradable ma-
terials? What are the benefits of biodegradable materials?

 The teacher will close out the lesson by telling the students that trash that is biode-
gradable, and therefore can turn back into soil, does a much better job at maintain-
ing the cycle of nutrients to and from the earth (and our bodies) than does trash
that just sits undisturbed and does not decay.

[Attach all student handouts, PowerPoint slides [6 slides per page], etc. referenced in
the lesson. Summaries may be provided for longer readings or trade books.]

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