The EU has recently approved tough new measures to slash the use of plastic bags. New targets will force each country to reduce plastic bag use by 80% before 2019.
In this activity students examine degradable plastic bags as a possible alternative to ordinary plastic bags. They choose questions to ask experts, and come to a reasoned decision in answer to the dilemma question: will degradable plastic bags solve the problems caused by ordinary plastic bags?
Learning objective
In this lesson students will decide whether to replace ordinary polythene bags with degradable bags using:
- Materials: properties of polymers
- Science in society: evaluate the merits of a solution to a real-world problem
Try the activity
Please note: A new version of the presentation was uploaded 15 June 2015.