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Problem
What are the decomposition rates of different items? -
Hypothesis
Which item will be decomposed the most? What percent of each item will be decomposed? -
Procedures
We buried the items about 6 inches under the ground and put stakes in front of our items. -
Materials and Equipment
For our project we mainly used a shovel, yellow tape, and wooden stakes. -
Styrofoam Conclusion
The styrofoam did not decompose very much. I would have to say it only decomposed about 10%. We unburied the styrofoam on 5/11/11. I thought it was going to decompose at least about 50%. -
Styrofoam
Styrofoam can be recycled into a different type of material but right now there isn't a large market for recycling styrofoam. The best thing we can do with styrofoam besides recycle it is to reuse it. Ray McInitre invented styrofoam during World War 2 and is currently used for many things such as drink cups, plates and packaging. -
Weather
The weather for this week was fairly nice. It was around 40 degrees in the morning and got up to about 70 degrees. It was pretty windy with no rain. -
Aluminum Foil
Americans recycle roughly 65-70% of aluminum they use in their house, but that is mainly cans and not foil. We throw away thousands of tons of foil every year. We don't realize that aluminum is about 100% recyclable. It takes 95 % less energy to make aluminum from recycled aluminum, versus using bauxite ore. -
Weather
The weather for this week was very windy and was pretty cold. There was no wind and not much humidity. -
Aluminum Foil Conclusion
The aluminum foil did not decompose at all. We unburied the foil on 5/11/11. I did not think it would decompose at all. -
Sun Chips Bag Conclusion
The Sun Chips bag only decomposed about 20%. We unburied the Sun Chips bag on 5/11/11. On the bag it says it takes about 14 weeks to decompose 100%. I thought it would've decomposed about 60%. -
Sun Chips Bag
These new biodegradable Sun Chips bag is said to decompose in as little as 14 weeks! Most biodegradable bags just break down into smaller pieces but these bags are made from a biopolymer resin made from plant sugar called polylactic acid. -
Weather
The weather for this week was chilly in the mornings but warmed up a lot in the afternoons. It was very windy with no rain and it wasn't very humid. -
Weather
The weather for this week was pretty warm except for Friday which was very cold and very windy. There was not much humidity with no rain. -
Regular Chips Bag
Normal chips bags are not recyclable because first of all, the kind of material they are made of cannot be recycled and second of all, the bags are very oily. -
Regular Chips Bag Conclusion
The regular chips bag barely even decomposed. I would have to say it only decomposed about 5%. We unburied the chips bag on 5/11/11. I didn't think it would decompose very much at first. -
Weather
The weather for this week was fairly warm with cold mornings. There was a little bit of rain (which we needed very badly) and it was pretty humid. -
Apple Conclusion
The apple decomposed quite a bit, probably about 95%. We unburied the apple on 5/11/11. I thought that the apple was going to decompose the most, and it did. -
Apple
You can't really recycle apples, but you can reuse them by feeding them to your animals. In 2005, there were about 55 million tons of apples grown worldwide. The apple tree came from Western Asia and is still found there today. -
Weather
The weather for this week was fairly nice. It was pretty warm except for the mornings when it was pretty chilly. There was a lot of rain and there was a little bit of humidity. -
Paper
Paper needs to be recycled and it can be recycled because paper is made from 90% wood. In the US alone we ar using more than 68 million tons of paper each year. We are cutting down our trees way faster than we can grow them. Paper was invented in China in the early 2nd Century B.C. -
Paper Conclusion
The paper did not decompose at all. We unburied the paper on 5/11/11. I did not think that the paper was going to decompose at all. -
Cotton
In 2009 each resident of the United States created 4.3 pounds of waste per day, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Reusing common items such as cotton rags helps to reduce the amount of trash we throw away each day. Recycling and reusing materials reduce the amount of waste going into landfills and put them to good use. There are various options for utilizing old cotton rags. -
Weather
The weather for this week was pretty hot. There was a lot of wind, a little bit of rain, and llots of humidity. -
Cotton Conclusion
The cotton didn't decompose at all. We unburied the cotton on 5/11/11. At the beginning of the nine weeks I didn't think that the cotton would decompose at all. -
Orange
Many people use orange peels for cooking, insect repellant, a room freshener, brown sugar, to protect your plants from cats and dogs, and you can even make your garbage disposal smell fresh by just dropping an orange peel in it and grinding it up.In 2008 Florida growers produced 71 percent of the entire output of U.S. oranges, amounting to $1.5 billion. -
Weather
The weather for this week was hot. The average temperature was probably about 85 degrees. It was pretty windy and there was a lot of rain on Friday. It was also very humid on most days. -
Orange Conclusion
The orange decomposed about 85%. We unburied the orange on 5/11/11. I thought that the orange and the apple would both decompose about the same amount and they did.
