Print this lesson
Eureka!
Visit the site www.mountaindewbottles.com/1.2.3/1.2.3.html Look at the pictures and answer the following questions:
- How are the soda bottles shown in this photograph different from the soda bottles sold today?
- In what ways do you think the soda bottles sold today are better than the bottles shown in the photograph?
It was a long time after the plastic used to make soda bottles was invented that it was actually used to make bottles
(Polyethylene was invented in the 1930s but plastic soda bottles did not become widely available until the 1970s.)
Why was this so?
We are now going to have a glimpse at how plastics might be used in the future. We are going to look at a special sort of space home that astronauts might use when visiting the moon or, one day, even Mars. Plastics have been used to make the space home. It is called the Transhab capsule. Access the site at: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/mars/marsbases/ndxpage1.html and examine the images. You may also access the photos found at: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/mars/lunarbases/ndxpage1.html
Answer the following questions:
Entrepreneurs create new innovations all of the time. In small groups, have students list at least 10 innovations which did not exist 10 years ago. Create a new product using plastic. Draw a picture of your idea and share your idea with the rest of the class.
