Year 5 - Science
Bioplastics (non-statutory Climate Change & Sustainability)
Properties, changes and separating materials
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit explores the properties of everyday materials, including hardness, solubility, and conductivity. It covers reversible changes like dissolving and mixing, and irreversible changes such as burning. Emphasis is on scientific enquiries, data recording, and presenting findings with evidence.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to describe how long it takes for plastics to decompose and how to make an alternative degradable bioplastic.
Key Notes
- It takes up to 500 years for plastics to decompose.
- Discarded plastics are causing problems in our seas and on our land, for animals including humans.
- Scientists have discovered ways to make bioplastics or biodegradable plastics.
- Bioplastics can be made from starch.
- Scientists can observe bioplastics over time to find out how long it takes them to decompose.
Vocabulary To Learn
- plastic: Plastic is a material which is made from crude oil and can be moulded into different shapes.
- decompose: To decompose is to break down or decay.
- degradable: If something is degradable, it can be broken down into the simple parts that made it.
- bioplastic: A bioplastic is a plastic made from materials which come from sustainable sources such as plants.
- observe: To observe is to look very closely and use other senses too.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Bioplastics do not cause any environmental problems.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the scientific idea in this lesson using two key points.
It takes up to 500 years for plastics to decompose. Discarded plastics are causing problems in our seas and on our land, for animals including humans.
2. Define this scientific word and use it in context. 'plastic'
Plastic is a material which is made from crude oil and can be moulded into different shapes. Include the word in a full scientific explanation, not as a single label.
3. Correct this common scientific misunderstanding.
Mistake: Bioplastics do not cause any environmental problems. Correction: Teaching slides explain what the limitations of current bioplastics are, and that scientists are still working on their development.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Burning plants as fuel (non-statutory Climate Change & Sustainability) Study Guide
- Burning: an irreversible change Study Guide
- Everyday uses of thermal insulators Study Guide
- Greenhouse gases (non-statutory Climate Change & Sustainability) Study Guide
- How scientists work Study Guide
- Insulating our homes and schools (non-statutory Climate Change & Sustainability) Study Guide
- More irreversible changes Study Guide
- More reversible changes Study Guide
- Properties of materials Study Guide
- Providing safe drinking water (non-statutory Climate Change & Sustainability) Study Guide
- Recovering insoluble solids Study Guide
- Removing salt from seawater (non-statutory) Study Guide
- Reversible changes of state Study Guide
- Rusting: an irreversible change Study Guide
- Separating soluble solids from solutions Study Guide
- Soluble and insoluble Study Guide
- Thermal insulators: do and review Study Guide
- Thermal insulators: plan Study Guide
- Uses of everyday materials Study Guide
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