Plastic Pervasiveness and Pollution: Polymer Education for ... 4.1r.pdf · polymers and the subsequent pollution. • Students initially read about plastic pollution, then throughout

Plastic Pervasiveness and Pollution: Polymer Education for Preservice

TeachersDr. Amy Flanagan Johnson and Victoria Hill

CHEM 101: CHEMISTRY FOR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS

• The NGSS emphasizes the connections between the sciences and humans’ impact on our environment.• Focus lab activities on fundamental chemistry

concepts (properties of matter, density, reactions) within an environmental context.

• Equipping teachers with the tools to teach polymer and pollution education is the only way to ensure it will be taught, and taught effectively.

• The future students of these preservice teachers are the ones who will be able to make a significant difference in pollution issues.

A 2014 study estimated that a minimum of 5.25 trillion plastic particles weighing 268,940 tonsare floating in the ocean

https://www.virgin.com/virgin-unite/why-its-vital-we-prove-value-ocean-plasticEriksen, M.; Lebreton, L.C.; Carson, H.S.; Thiel, M.; Moore, C.J.; Borerro, J.C.; Galgani, F.; Ryan, P.G.; Reisser, J. Plastic Pollution in the World’s Oceans: More than 5 Trillion Plastic Pieces Weighing over 250,000 Tons Afloat at Sea. PLoS ONE, 2014, 12, e111913 ,DOI: 10.1371/ journal.pone.0111913.

Plastics floating on the surface are a small fraction of the amount of plastic polluting the ocean annually

https://www.virgin.com/virgin-unite/why-its-vital-we-prove-value-ocean-plasticCressey, D. The Plastic Ocean. Nature, 2016, 536, 263-265.

Education

As this polymer pollution persists , the need for environmental education has grown.

Polymer education has increased over the last decades, but it rarely evaluates the effect of the course on its students.

In contrast, environmental education evaluates the impact on students but often do not study the chemistry or lifecycle of pollutants.

This study fills this gap by studying the chemistry of plastic pollutants, as well as qualitatively assessing the impact of the course material on students.

Education

Teaching about pollution through the

lens of polymer chemistry allows

students to understand where

these materials come from and where they

end up.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• How effectively do undergraduate polymer laboratories for pre-service teachers improve their understanding of the importance and environmental impacts of polymers?• What effect do such labs have on pre-service teachers’

intentions to include polymer-focused environmental education in their future classrooms?

Laboratories

• A set of labs were written for this study that focus on polymers and the subsequent pollution.

• Students initially read about plastic pollution, then throughout the semester they experience microplastic pollution filtration, grow Styrofoam alternatives, and create biopolymers.

• For this presentation, we’ll be taking a closer look at the Floating Plastics Laboratory, modified from Enrique A. Hughes, Helena M. Ceretti, and Anita Zalts’ procedure.

Laboratories

• Two activities were created from this laboratory, the first of which was confirming plastic identity through density. (Described as Part 2)

• Students were given plastics from 5 different SPI plastic categories and placed them in 7 solutions of increasing density to see if they sank or floated.

• Based on this chart, students saw what plastics would sink in the solutions.

Laboratories

• The second part of this experiment asks students to apply their knowledge from the floating plastics activity to identify an unknown microplastic mix. ( Described as Part 3)

• In order to test the density of the plastics, they had to be dumped in each solution, then filtered and transferred to the next solution repeatedly until each type of plastic sunk in a solution

• This was incredibly tedious for students, but illustrated just how difficult it is to remove plastic waste from the ocean and identify it.

Data Collection Methods

Pre & post surveys

Surveys after each laboratory

Classroom observation

Focus groups

Survey After Each Laboratory

• At the end of every lab, there is a one page survey. This is turned in separately for confidentiality.

• A survey at the end of each lab gives us the most information about what students learned and how they feel about it, as they are likely to forget specific details if asked at the end of the semester.

Survey After Each Laboratory

• The survey asks students to describe:• Two things that went well in the lab that day.

• Two things that could be improved in the lab to create a better experience.

• What material in that modules was the most significant to them.

• How they foresee themselves using material from that unit in their future classrooms, or to explain why if they don’t.

What material in that modules was the most significant to them

• “Each time we filtered in part 3 disturbed me thinking of the oceans.”

• “ The collection of microplastics showed how difficult a task it is to pick up plastics and sort them.”

• “ I enjoyed the table of different plastics + how they’re used. I will def. ü containers more when I buy plastics to try and make better choices.”

• “Part 2, because I genuinely didn’t know there was such a wide variance in plastic densities.”

What material in that modules was the most significant to them

• While there were responses that reflected an impact, there were many misinterpretations of the question.

• The intended meaning of this question was to ask what course material had an impact on them, but many students took it to mean what literal material was significant.

• “Plastic. It is what the whole thing was about.”

• “Plastic 1 and 2 because I use them most in daily life for food + water bottles”

• “Probably the high density polyethylene because I use it the most. I drink out of plastic water bottles everyday.”

How students foresee themselves using material from that unit in their future classrooms, or explain why they don’t.

• “ This is a great visual representation of the ways that recycling plastics can be very challenging, I would use this activity as a demo or group project.”

• “ I would recreate this exact type of experiment on Earth day to really send home the message of proper disposal of waste.”

• “ I will do a simplified version while exploring density [.] It was a good connection.”

• “ [[V]ery practical concept to study and understand. Would need to simplify for younger students ( part 3 ).”

How students foresee themselves using material from that unit in their future classrooms, or explain why they don’t.

• “I would love to use this to show pollution and how plastics linger in an environment was well as to show different densities.”

• “I can see using these examples of showing what plastics are used on the daily, and what is harmful with them.”

• “ I could see having my students doing Part 2, but I would just do Part 3 as a whole class with just me doing that and having a class discussion about it.”

• “ I would love to modify this experiment and sink/float different pieces of candy or fruit.”

Future Directions

• The survey data will be coded qualitatively throughout analysis.

• The laboratory procedures will be modified based on initial performance and survey data.

• Expansions of this pollution-based curriculum will include developing procedures for students to go on excursions to collect plastics and develop their own solutions of what can be done with the waste.

This photo of “vintage” waste that was uncovered by storms washing away the Lake Michigan coast in October 2019

shows that this problem won’t be going away anytime soon. Now is the time to

implement environmental education into STEM classrooms.

Kraig Zelent, Montague & Whitehall, MI 10/24/19

Acknowledgements

• Eastern Michigan University Department of Chemistry

• Dr. Gregg Wilmes

• Dr. Cory Emal

• Mary Bautista

• EMU Women in Philanthropy

QUESTIONS?

• Feel free to contact us at [email protected] [email protected]