Topic: Development trends in production of packaging

Target group

High school / technical school student

Core curriculum:

New core curriculum:

High school and technical high school. Chemistry – basic level:

XXI. Chemistry around us. Pupil:

10) gives examples of packaging (cellulose, glass, metal, plastic) used in everyday life; describes their pros and cons.

High school and technical high school. Chemistry – extended level:

XXI. Chemistry around us. Pupil:

10) gives examples of packaging (cellulose, glass, metal, plastic) used in everyday life; describes their pros and cons.

Old core curriculum:

High school and technical high school. Chemistry – basic level:

XXI. Chemistry around us. Student:

9) gives examples of packaging (cellulose, glass, metal, plastic) used in everyday life; describes their advantages and disadvantages;
10) justifies the need to manage waste from different packaging.

General aim of education

The student discusses the advantages and disadvantages of individual types of packaging

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• to discuss how the directions of packaging materials development shaped;

• to characterize the factors that are taken into account when choosing the material for packaging production;

• to discuss selected applications and the advantages and disadvantages of different packaging (cellulose, glass, metal, artificial) used on a daily basis;

• to classify plastics for polymerization and polycondensation.

Methods/techniques

• activating

  • discussion.

• expository

  • talk.

• exposing

  • film.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Introduction

1. The teacher hands out Methodology Guide or green, yellow and red sheets of paper to the students to be used during the work based on a traffic light technique. He presents the aims of the lesson in the student's language on a multimedia presentation and discusses the criteria of success (aims of the lesson and success criteria can be send to students via e‑mail or posted on Facebook, so that students will be able to manage their portfolio).

2. The teacher together with the students determines the topic – based on the previously presented lesson aims – and then writes it on the interactive whiteboard/blackboard. Students write the topic in the notebook.

Realization

1. The teacher introduces students to the topic: he says that the packaging is used to secure the goods during transport and to store them safely. Materials for the production of packaging are selected taking into account several factors: the cost of material and packaging production impact of the material and packaging process on the natural environment material resistance to external conditions possible interaction between packaging packed goods..

2. The teacher divides the students into 6 groups. Each of them receives to the study an issue related to a given type of packaging: group I - glass packaging, group II - paper packaging, group III - metal packaging, group IV - wooden packaging, group V - packaging from fabrics, group VI - plastic packaging. Groups develop packaging in the context of: selected applications, advantages and disadvantages. They can use abstracts, textbooks and the internet. After the work, the leaders discuss the effects of the group's activities using the talking wall technique. After each presentation, other students may ask questions or supplement the leader's statement with other messages - indicated discussion. The teacher summarizes and evaluates the work of the class participants..

3. The teacher recommends students to prepare an observation journal in an abstract (or give out work cards / recommends to write in the notebooks). He informs that they will watch the film „Differentiation of PE from PET”. Before this happens, they are to formulate a research question and hypotheses and note them in the indicated place. After the screening, they set together observations, then conclusions, and write them down as well..

4. The teacher summarizes the subject of packaging, mentioning active, intelligent, multilayer and biodegradable packaging.

5. At the end of the lesson, the teacher asks students to do interactive exercises - individual work.

Summary

1. The teacher asks the students to finish the following sentences:

   • Today I learned ...

   • I understood that …

   • It surprised me …

   • I found out ...

   The teacher can use the interactive whiteboard in the abstract or instruct students to work with it

Homework

1. Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

2. Make at home a note from the lesson using the sketchnoting method.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Development trends in production of packaging

Virtually every product available on the market has a characteristic packaging. The packaging industry is a dynamically developing sector, subject to constant changes. In this case, the production volume has a close relationship with the civilization development of given country. Not only producers and users are interested in market situation. It is also the matter of interest of economists, ecologists and artists. Self‑service sales, online shopping, customer preferences, environmental protection requirements and high competition on the market mean that today the packaging is not only an addition to the product, but often it itself is a product.

The oldest glass containers – amphorae and vases discovered by archaeologists – are over 3500 old. Bottles were a luxury commodity until a man learned how to make glass objects using glass shafts. However, it was the mastering of the art of glass casting that popularized the use of packaging from this material. Being produced from natural raw materials: sand, soda and limestone – glass is the most environment‑friendly material used to pack food, beverages, pharmaceutical products and cosmetics. Packaging with very sophisticated shapes and colours can be created as it is very easy to form and dye the glass mass. Glass packaging do not react with products that are stored in them, their transparency allows the consumer to assess the quality of the product, and dark colour protects some products from light. Owing to the possibility of being re‑used and easy recycling glass is an environment‑friendly material although it is not free of defects.

Paper is a brilliant material invented in China at the beginning of our era. It is mainly produces from cellulose – the most important component of plants, which is a polysaccharid when its chemical structure is concerned. It consists of the rests of glucose molecules (${\text{C}}_{\text{6}}{\text{H}}_{\text{12}}{\text{O}}_{\text{6}}$) linked to each other with glycosidic bonds in long, unbranched chains.

Acids are chemical compounds that destroy glycosidic bonds. Cellulose is a solid, white, fibrous substance that is tasteless and odourless. It is neither soluble in water nor in organic solvent. It is flammable. Most cellulose can be found in fibres of cotton, flax, hemp, jute – even more than 90% – and wood – about 45–50% (mass percentage). Quality and durability of paper depend on raw materials used to manufacture it and production technology.

Wooden packaging have been used for ages, mainly to sell agricultural products and store food. Such packaging should not be produced from wood obtained from trees with large quantities of resin. Furthermore, tree species has impact on the type of stored goods, for example oak or beechmast wood is used to ferment cabbage and cucumbers, larch wood is used to store vinegar, wine can be stored in oak or acacia barrels, while salted herring is stored in spruce barrels. Wooden packaging even more often have a decorative function. Moreover they are used as bulk and transport packaging. Nowadays wood is replaced with other materials as it is difficult to keep such packaging clean, it requires frequent renovation, is expensive and their production involves cutting down trees.

Metal packaging is used to store food products that need to be hermetically sealed, for example canned meat or fish, preserved vegetables and fruits. Apart from canned food, you can also buy other goods, such as paints, varnishes, cosmetics, plant protection products, liquefied gases, etc. Galvanized steel sheet and aluminium are mainly used to produce metal packaging to store food. Other articles can be stored in containers made of bluesteel sheet, or galvanized, chromed or nickel‑plated steel sheet. As undesired chemical reactions make occur between metal and food product, a sheet is coated with tin or acrylic lacquer. Currently, cans with beverages, mainly carbonated drinks, are the most typical metal packaging on the market.

Fabrics are one of the oldest packaging types. Fibres of cotton, linen, jute and hemp are made of cellulose – like paper. Cellulose sacks can be used to store and transport cereals, coffee, vegetables, fruits, and seeds. It is the best packaging for bulk goods, which should have air access. Although their weight is low, they are biodegradable and can be repeatedly used, they are increasingly more often replaced with packaging made of synthetic fibres, mainly polyamide and polyester ones, and of plastics.

Plastics, the so‑called polymeric materials, are macromolecular compounds. One of the ways to obtain them is as a result of polymerisation which involves many molecules of unsaturated compounds (monomers) being combined into one large molecule (polymer), by breaking multiple bonds.

Polyethylene, especially the one of high density, is used in the production of food packaging. It is reusable and considered to be the safest packaging material.

PET is a material resistant to acids and some organic solvents. It exhibits high mechanical strength. Bottles made of this material that are used to store beverages and vegetable fats are most often encountered on the market. Modern packaging, for example the ones to be used in microwave ovens, is made of rigid PET film and covered with a thin crystalline layer of this material, giving it resistance to high temperature and excellent transparency.

Nowadays both producer and consumers place high demands on packaging. That is the reason why the market is still surprising us with interesting solutions that make life easier. Progress mainly concerns food packaging, which contradict solutions used so far, namely eliminating interactions between food and container.

Active packaging create a system of elements interacting with each other with the product and its vicinity. In case of food it extends its expiry date. Intelligent packaging enables control of product’s safety during storage, informing the consumer about this fact.

Multilayer packaging consists of numerous components and are produced by combining at least two various materials. Most often paper is combined with metal (the first one ensures adequate rigidity and strengthens the structure of the packaging, while the latter one protects the product against light and oxygen) and plastic (PE ensures tightness and protects the packaging and its contents from moisture). Milk, fruit or vegetable juice, sauce, soup containers are the examples of such packaging.

Requirements related to environmental protection and the high cost of recycling of a large number of packaging waste have led producers to manufacture biodegradable packaging, namely those that are decomposed under the influence of microorganisms. Traditional plastics are most frequently modified using starch or cellulose. Such packaging can be composed together with organic waste.

• Packaging is an important component of the product. It should ensure adequate protection, enable storage of goods, their transport, sale and consumption quality.

• The materials from which the packaging is produced are selected taking into account the following factors: possible interaction with the product, resistance to external conditions, material and packaging costs, and the impact on the natural environment.

• As far as material type is concerned packaging can be divided into: the one made of glass, metal, cellulose, plastics and multilayer.

• The following examples of polymerization materials can be given: polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polymethyl methacrylate.

• Polyethylene terephthalate is an example of a polycondensation material.

• As economic standards are changing, new materials and technologies used to produce packaging are constantly sought for.