| Gum-
possibly the most banned item in the world. To quote Elbert
Hubbard:"This will never be a civilized country until
we expend more money on books than we do on chewing gum."
Use gum to teach about conservation, chemistry, and behavior.
What
you need:
Gum (student supplied), gum packaging (from grocery store),
scales (electronic are best, triple-beam will work).
What
to do:
| A.
Packaging: |
|
|
1
|
Have
students describe the gum wrappers (aluminum foil bonded
to paper- not recyclable), the pack that hold 5-12 sticks
of gum, the cellophane covered cardboard boxes that
hold about 20 packs, the corrugated cartons that hold
the cardboard boxes, the plastic wrap that goes around
the pallet-filled cartons. You may also discuss the
printing on all of the packaging & its effects on
the environment. |
|
2
|
Discuss
that need for packaging, buying 'in bulk' to save on
packaging, and recyclable packaging vs. trash. Discuss
the contribution to packaging to the total amount of
trash produced. |
| B.
Chemistry |
|
|
1
|
Have
students weigh a stick of gum (if possible to the nearest
0.1 gram). |
|
2
|
Have
them chew the gum until the flavor goes away. Record
the time. |
|
3
|
Have
the students reweigh the gum. Drying off the saliva
with a paper towel first is recommended. The difference
in weight is the weight of sugar. |
| A.
Brand of gum |
B.
Weight of gum (in grams) |
C.
Weight after chewing |
D.Weight
of sugar
(B-C)
|
E.
% sugar
(D/B) x 100 |
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| C.
Behavior: |
|
|
1
|
Discuss
the history of chewing gum - including the influence
of General Santa Ana (of the Alamo fame) as well as
chewing tar, tree sap and petroleum-based gum. |
|
2
|
Discuss
the economics of gum. Amount of money spent each year
to buy gum, the demographics of gum buyers (by age,
ethnicity, nationality, education level etc.), the clean-up
cost of gum mis-use (and the ways of removing gum from
carpets/ hair etc.). |
|
3
|
Compare
the gum laws of Singapore (which recently changed) to
those of the U.S. |
TEKS
SCIENCE Grade 7: 1AB, 2A-E, 3B, 7A, 14C
MATH Grade 7: 2B, 3A, 11B
Social Studies Grade 7; 2B, 13B, 20AC
Materials from the Teacher Resource Center:
Video: How to Save Planet Earth
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