WELCOME TO PREMIER POLYMER PROVIDERS:

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2 WELCOME TO PREMIER POLYMER PROVIDERS: Dear future employee, Our polymer company is looking to get ahead. We sell our polymer to Northwest companies that make some excellent products. Take Boeing for example. They make planes, and use our polymer base to make the stow bins on every plane! Take K2; a great ski, snowboard, skateboard and inline skate company. K2 uses our polymers for top sheets and wheels. Ever heard of Nutcase? The Portland Company uses our polymers for the outer shell of their colorful and popular sports helmets. Pocock Rowing makes the world s best racing shells for crew and uses our polymer to make the fastest and lightest boats. Other companies use our polymers for other uses, too. But that s not enough. We want to grow greener. We d like to produce a more sustainably minded plastic for our customers. We heard about a young Turkish engineer. We are inspired by her ideas. Keeping it local is an important business moto for us. So we are turning to you, young scientists and engineers, for your help and ideas. We want you to engineer our next great line of polymers. That s right; we want you to design, prototype, and test a material our customers will use in their products. We hope you ll join our company and enjoy working with us to change the world of polymers. A0er all, we are the Premier Polymer Provider. 2

3 WELCOME: Read the welcome letter Read the ChemMatters article: Plastics Go Green List a few key terms you think you should know from the reading: How is bioplastic different than most commercial plastics? What is one question you have about what you read: 3

4 Young Turkish Engineer Elif Bilgin works through the Engineering Design Process listed below: On the similar diagram on the next page, identify the problem, her background research, her requirements, her solution ideas, her prototype and test, and how she communicated her results. Write your phrases in the appropriate boxes. 4

5 1. How many times did she fail to meet her requirements before getting one that worked? 2. How is failure an important part of the design process? 5

6 Background information: Engineers need good science backgrounds to advance their ideas. You ll need a bit of review. Your task is to investigate types of polymers at several stations. Use the background brief boxes for each polymer to record your observations and learning about each polymer. Polymer Name: At least three detailed observations: Properties and characteristics: Common uses: 6

7 Polymer Name: At least three detailed observations: Properties and characteristics: Common uses: Polymer Name: At least three detailed observations: Properties and characteristics: Common uses: 7

8 Polymer Name: At least three detailed observations: Properties and characteristics: Common uses: Polymer Name: At least three detailed observations: Properties and characteristics: Common uses: 8

9 Polymer Name: At least three detailed observations: Properties and characteristics: Common uses: Polymer Name: At least three detailed observations: Properties and characteristics: Common uses: 9

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11 What is a Polymer: Of the seven types of polymers you observed and learned about, which do you think is the most widely used and why? I learned/ I didn t know: I wonder: 11

12 Engineering Design Criteria and Constraints We, here at PPP, want you to engineer our next great line of polymers. That s right; we want you to design, prototype, and test a material our customers may use in their products. We need you to pick a type of petroleum plastic and create a bio-based polymer with similar properties with less environmental impact. For testing purposes, you will need to make a thin film with a minimum size of about 10 cm x 10 cm. Here are some early designs and formulations developed by our intern Kate M-F. Unfortunately, many of these did not meet our criteria, nor resembled any of the 7 petroleum polymers. Base Formulation A 60 ml water 10 g starch 5 ml vinegar 5 ml glycerin BBase Formulation B 80 ml glycerol solution 5 ml salt water solution 3 grams starch (food coloring, 1 drop) (food coloring, 1 drop) 12

13 Using the base formulations and a list of base starches and additives, on the next page, brainstorm a formulation to make and then test, that will meet your criteria. Your criteria for a bio-plastic substitute for # is: (You get to decide based off of your observations!) Signature date 13

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17 Lab procedures: 1. Put your goggles on! 2. Follow your formulation to mix the contents into a beaker. 3. Turn the hotplate on high. 4. Set the beaker on the hot plate. 5. Stir the mixture continuously as it begins to gel and get sticky. 6. Continue to heat the mixture until it boils. 7. Continue to heat the mixture for another minute. 8. Pour your mixture into a test coupon mold of your choice: A. petri dish B. Popsicle stick mold 1. arrange four sticks as a square. 2. tape them down on the release film. 3. pour the mixture into the square. 4. doctor blade your mixture by pulling another popsicle stick across the top of the mold to make a smooth layer. 9. Label your sample with your team name and class period. 17

18 TESTING YOUR COUPON SAMPLE: Testing your biopolymer will give you information to present to our company officers. You ll need to conduct both qualitative and quantitative tests. Qualitative Assessment: Does it stretch, bend, fold? How much? What happens when you do? Is the sample uniform, or with defects like bubbles, cracks, etc.? What else do you notice? What does it remind you of? Write down as many observations as you can. You can even draw a picture. 18

19 Quantitative Testing: ELONGATION: 1. Cut three samples of the same size out of your plastic specimen. Aim for a sample size of 2 cm x 8 cm if possible. 2. For the first sample, record the initial sample length. 2. Hold the short edge of the sample flat to the surface of the table. 3. Align the ruler to the edge of the sample at the zero on the ruler. 4. Applying pressure on the edge, pinch the free edge of the sample. 5. Pull the free edge slowly and steadily. 6. Have a partner observe the sample as it stretches. 7. Record the final length of the sample right as it breaks. 9. Calculate the percent elongation of the sample: Percent Elongation = Final length (cm) - Initial Length (cm) x 100 Initial Length (cm) 10. Repeat the test procedure for the next two samples. 11. Calculate the average % elongation for the plastic specimen. Trial Initial Sample Length (cm) Final Sample Length (cm) Percent elongation % Average: What are some possible sources of error in this data? 19

20 Quantitative Testing: TENSILE STRENGTH: 1. Cut three dog bone shapes using the template provided separately (see Figure 1, not to scale). Be careful not to nick the shape, as it will cause premature failure. 2. Trim all sides to avoid edge effect errors in testing. 3. Secure the top edge of the dog bone between two popsicle sticks. 4. Clamp with a binder clip as shown in Figure Repeat step #3 for the bo2om edge of the dog bone. 6. Thread a stick through the upturned loops of the top binder clip (figure 2) rest that stick between the openings of two chairs as shown in Figure Hang an S shaped paper clip from the each side of the bo2om binder clip loops. 8. Add washers, one at a time, to each side. 9. Record the number of washers that are added to cause the sample to break. 10. Observe and record the failure mode: does the sample break with sharp edges? With a clean line? Draw or take a picture of the break, to include in your data. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 20

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22 OPTIMIZATION: Signature date 22

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26 Presenting your findings: How do you summarize your design and testing? How do you prepare to present your information to others? What highlights of the process do you want to share? What failures and successes stand out in the engineering and design process? What future questions and future designs do you have? The head of PPP will visit your lab shortly. She will inquire about your process and expect to hear a result of your work in a short 3-5 minute presentation that may include only one visual. Use the template on the follow page to guide your plan. 26

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31 Definitions Term bioplas#c biopolymer composite plasticizer Defini#on Plastics derived from renewable biomass sources, such as vegetable oils and starches Polymers constructed of repeating units produced by living organisms Material made from two or more compounds with significantly different physical or chemical properties (example - resin and fibers) A substance that is added to a resin system to increase flexibility and reduce bri2leness polymer starch Substance that has a molecular structure consisting of a large number of repeating units Carbohydrate obtained from plant tissues that serve as an energy store tensile elongation percent increase in length that occurs before the material breaks under tension tensile strength force per unit area required to break a material in tension Mathematical Challenges: Convert the number of washers to weight and calculate the tensile strength in force per unit area. How much does it cost to make your biopolymer formulation per kilogram? 31

32 Premier Polymer Providers Employee Engineering Workbook Science and Innovation A Boeing/Teaching Channel Partnership Jessica C Levine, Teacher and Curriculum Designer Jill Seebergh and Kay Blohowiak, Boeing Technical Fellows