For this unit of lessons, students examine the role of compost columns and recycling. They create a KWL chart about garbage in Chicago. They also examine life cycles and packaging of everyday products.

Learn how to make biodegradable plastic using common ingredients found right in your kitchen. Requires Adobe Reader. [PDF]

Emma Bryce traces the life cycles of three different plastic bottles, shedding light on the dangers these disposables present to our world. [4:07]

Scientists have recently found that mealworms may be able to break down and degrade styrofoam, a form of plastic previously thought not to be biodegradable. Read how this discovery may affect pollution.