Biology/
Chemistry
Saving
Humpty Dumpty
|
Christine
Etapa |
Gunsaulus
Scholastic Academy |
|
4420 South
Sacramento Avenue |
|
|
CHICAGO IL
60632 |
|
|
773-535-7215 |
Objective(s):
Students
will describe how shoe design, manufacturing, retailing, consumer use,
and
disposal impact environments and societies.
Students will discuss ways to reduce, reuse, or recycle
resources in the
life-cycle for a shoe product. Students will investigate why consumers
purchase
certain shoe products. Students will examine the influence of packaging
on
consumer choice, and determine if consumers consider waste disposal,
and
recyclability, when making purchasing decisions. Students
will investigate the shock absorption and energy return
of given surfaces.
Materials:
Each
of the materials listed below are understood to be per group.
|
One gallon
container Eight hard
boiled eggs Three poster
boards Rubber
Cement meter stick marker |
stop watch graph paper stirring stick/ latex gloves. scissors New vocabulary list tape |
measuring cup Nike rubber
granules Worksheets Nike upper
materials Nike foam
material Elmer’s glue |
Strategy:
1.
Review
the concept of cycles. Have students
give examples of cycles.
2.
Tell
students they’ll be starting a unit of study that uses an athletic shoe
as an
example of a product cycle.
3.
Discuss
why they chose the shoes they are wearing, and ask if they considered
waste
disposal problems that could be caused by the shoes, or the packaging..
4.
Have
students remove one of their athletic shoes, and examine its make-up.
5.
Make
a pile of all the athletic shoes in the middle of the floor, and ask a
volunteer to measure the length, width, and height of the shoe pile.
Discuss
the problem of waste disposal for these shoes, then expand to
Chicago’s, then
North America’s etc.
6.
Have
student’s measure one shoe. How far would they all reach, if you place
them toe
to heel? Expand on this idea.
7.
Have
students weigh one of their shoes, double it, and calculate a class
average.
Discuss the municipal waste created if everyone buys 4 pr. of shoes per
year?
Expand.
8.
Introduce
the concept of cycles, as it might apply to the pile of shoes.
9.
Introduce
new vocabulary, noting the difference between recycling, downcycling,
reducing,
and reusing.
10.
Tell
the students they are going to make some playground material, from used
athletic shoes, and when it is dry, they will investigate its shock
absorption,
and energy return capability.
11.
Discuss
Nike’s efforts in being environmentally conscious about its product
waste. They provide playground-surfacing
material
from product waste. Ask if this is recycling, downcycling, reusing, or
reducing?.
12.
Students
will follow directions given to them on handouts, to test various
playground
surfaces, using the scientific method. Data will be graphed later.
Performance
Assessment:
1.
Students
should be able to measure the materials being used with 100% accuracy.
2.
Students
should be able to work in cooperative groups with little supervision.
3.
Students
should be able to write up the experience using the scientific method,
with 90%
accuracy.
4.
Students
should understand the concept of a cycle, with 100% accuracy.
5.
Students
should understand the difference between recycling, downcycling,
reusing, and
reducing, with 90% accuracy.
6.
Students
should have collected necessary data with 90% accuracy.
7.
Students
should be able to graph the data they collected with 100% accuracy.
8.
Students
should be able to graph the data they collected with 100% accuracy.
9.
Students
should be able to choose products that are environmentally friendly,
given the
information discussed and experienced, with 100% accuracy.
Conclusions:
Conserving
resources and sharing responsibility for sustainable communities is a
job for
both consumers and businesses. This can be accomplished by conserving
resources
at the tech stage of a products life cycle, or by consumers making
wise, and
environmentally friendly choices, when they buy manufactured products.
Products
undergo scientific testing to determine how to reuse and recycle them,
or
reduce waste made by them. Materials
may retain or change their properties in the recycling process. Using controlled variables in experiments to
test products helps establish clearer relationships between cause and
effect.
Materials
have different properties and vary in their abilities to absorb forces
or
return energy.
References:
Sports
Science for Young People, by
George Barr (New York: Dover Publications, 1990,
1992).
For
a free Nike Air to Earth teacher’s guide, kit, and Nike reuse a shoe
material,
write:
Nike,
Inc.; C/o Reuse –A-Shoe/Air to Earth; One Bowerman Drive; Beaverton, Or
97005-6453
Mail
between November 1st, and May 31st, or June 1st and October 31st. First come
first serve.
More
Science Experiments for You: 112 Illustrated Experiments, by Bob Brown (Summit, PA:
TAB Books, 1998)
The National Recreation and Park Association
The Playground Safety Initiative
http://www.nrpa.org/playgroundsafety/
Acknowledgements:
American
Forest Foundation, Washington DC
California
Integrated Waste Management Board, Sacramento, CA
Florida
Department of Education Tallahassee, FL
GEMS
Project, University of Berkley, Berkley, CA
Lab
for Interactive Learning, Institute for Policy and Social Science
Research,
University of New Hampshire, NH
NAARR/NIKE
Project Team
Suzi Cloutier
Linda Hartmann
Laila Kaiser
Betsy Keithcart
Ed McCrea
Cara Morgan
Deborah Simmons
Shelley Taniguchi
NIKE
Project Writer
Joanne Glenn
Teacher
Field-Test Reviewers
Danielle Andrews
Mary Beth Cunat
Juanita Deavers
Ersie Hammett
Jon Kamen
Greg Mills
Madeline Smith
Ernest Steele
Air
to Earth Training Developer
Susie Harpham