Biopolymers hold great promise as sustainable alternatives for oil-based plastics in packaging materials due to their renewable feedstock, low transportation costs, and biodegradability. However, students do not fully appreciate the challenges and opportunities associated with using these materials until they compare and contrast their properties and environmental impacts with those of traditional packaging materials. This presentation will focus on strategies used to teach the concepts of life cycle analysis (LCA), triple bottom line, and systems thinking to students enrolled in an upper division course for chemistry majors and minors.<br/> <br/>An impromptu in-class debate was used to introduce students to the importance of using life cycle analysis rather than intuitive thinking to evaluate the environmental impacts of materials. In an effort to be more “environmentally friendly”, many municipalities have banned stores from using “single use” plastic bags. Students in my class initially held the intuitive belief that paper bags have lower environmental impacts that plastic bags because they are biodegradable. During class, students self-selected into teams and use their mobile devices to research and present an impromptu debate speech describing why either paper, plastic, or cloth bags were better for the environment. Students thereby experienced a moment of cognitive dissonance when their beliefs about the relative environmental impacts of such bags was contradicted by the conclusions they read in news articles and blogs on the internet. They then listened to a mini-lecture on LCA, before answering a series of guided questions regarding a journal article that conducted LCA on grocery store bags.<br/> <br/>To introduce the concept of the triple bottom line and reinforce the importance of using LCA to evaluate environmental impacts, students used their mobile devices to complete a multi-week group project focused on one particular biopolymer. First, they read a series of curated news articles and blog posts, and worked together to answer questions regarding its properties and applications in a shared google doc. Next, they searched for and read literature related to its environmental impact. Finally, they collaboratively prepared a google slide mini-presentation in a provided template regarding their key findings.

Mobile technology supported exploration of biopolymers for sustainable packaging materials

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