Introduction to Project:

This project has been designed to highlight the overuse of plastics in our daily
life and its hazards towards our health and environment. Students will be able
to develop and apply the skills of identifying and understanding an issue,
looking for the data to support the issue and suggest possible solutions owards
the problem.

This project has been categorised under different strands with clear
indication of the different learning outcomes which will be achieved through
individual activities.

The project has four strands in total, hence four tasks to be assigned to the
students. Each task will be assigned each week as asynchronous task at BSU.
The difficulty level will increase gradually from task 1 to task 4.

Students will be awarded a completion certificate for each task.

Project Details:

Task 1: During this task, students will be provided with introductory reading
material. Students will have to enlist and
categorise different materials used in our
daily life to make them realise the
maximum use of plastic all around us.
Students are expected to infer that plastic is
widely used as it is cheaper, lightweight and
can be handled and disposed easily.

(Resource sheet including a table and the

format for conclusion will be provided as well)

Task 2: A survey form will be provided to the students to be filled in by some

consumers (through calling people like friends, relatives, neighbours etc). The
form will be including questions regarding their preferences for using plastics
 and how they think about the hazards of this plastic. The
data collected will be presented in the form of graphs.

This task will enhance skills like collecting and analysing

the data. It is also create cross-curriculum links.

(Resource sheet with survey forms and guidelines for drawing graphs will also
be provided).

Task 3:

In this task, students will be provided with a case study to make them aware
of sustainable consumption. Students will be able to differentiate between
wants and needs and will suggest the alternatives to plastics which can be used
in our daily life to save our health and environment from its hazards. The skill
of critical thinking will be enhanced through this task.

Task 4:

In this task, students will be given opportunity to advertise the awareness

campaign through different means. Students will be given open choices for this
purpose like poster making, through videos or write-ups, pamphlets etc.

All the required support will be provided to the students, where needed.
Suggested certificate for Task 1
 Task 1:

Before you Begin

“Packaging” is “material” used to wrap or protect goods. Packaging as a

technology is used for enclosing or protecting products for distribution,
storage, sale, and use. Packaging is used in different industries including
aerospace, beverages, chemicals, hospital, pharmaceuticals, food, to name a
few. Packaging is also used as a means to provide information (contents of
packaging, ingredients, quantity, date of manufacture and expiry and cost of
product to name a few) to consumers. Packaging comes in different forms, in
different sizes and uses different types of materials depending on the items
or the products they are protecting. Packaging can be for a product as small as
a tissue wrap for a burger or as large as a shipping container.

There are a number of benefits to packaging, some of these include

● barrier protection - packaging material serves as a barrier and protects the

product from factors like dust, water, and other contamination.

● physical protection - is to product the packaged product from dropping,

shock, extreme temperature and vibrations to name a few.

● convenience - in terms of distribution, handling, stacking, opening and

closing, reuse, recycling, etc.

● security - to increase safety in terms of tampering, theft, etc.

● sustainability - returnable and reusable packaging could be used a number of

times prior to recycling.

As per Eurostat website, in Europe during 2015, 166.3 kg of packaging waste

was generated per inhabitant in the EU. From 2006 to 2015, paper and
cardboard was the main packaging waste material in the EU followed by plastic
and glass.
Plastic packaging is mostly single-use, especially in business-to-consumer
product, and a majority of it is discarded the same year it is produced. Nearly
50 percent of the plastic waste generated globally in 2015 was plastic
packaging. Much of this packaging, including polystyrene and other plastics,
does not break down quickly and when they are disposed in landfills, they
create long-term environmental problems. The production of of packaging uses
natural resources including water, and electricity that has independent
environmental impacts. By products of manufacturing are also a concern.

Objectives:

 identify different types of packaging material used for household

products.
 List different types of packaging material available in the market.
 Visualise different types of packaging material and sort these into
different categories.

Activity:

1. Make a list of different objects we use or observe in our daily life, for
example, hair brush, snacks, toys etc.
2. Categorise these materials based on the materials used for making or
packaging of these objects for example, paper, plastic, glass etc (sample
table is given in resources).
3. Find out the material which is used the most.
4. Conclude your task including the type of material used the most and the
possible reasons of using that material in our routine life.
Resources for Task 1:

Materials/ Paper plastic glass Wood

products
Snacks 
packaging

Conclusion:

Most widely used material is ______________________

Possible reasons behind its major usage can be :
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