8+Science+2+Jack's+MSW+Project

Jack Siman March 4, 2010 Keilty 8-2

CCDS Middle School Grade-Wide Recycling Competition


 * I. Introduction**:

Recycling, defined by Dictionary.com, is to treat or process (used or waste materials) so as to make suitable for reuse. Recycling is good for the environment because it saves more trees from being chopped down and reduces the amount of wastes in landfills. Landfills are places where holes are dug into the ground and filled with waste. This waste is called municipal solid waste, or MSW. MSW is waste produced by homes and businesses. Charlotte Country Day School is a business. We produce MSW. Fortunately, Country Day has recycling bins all around the school; but they are not being used very often and many recyclable waste is put in trash cans. To encourage better recycling, my group is hosting a grade-wide recycling competition. Our hypothesis was if you encourage and award recycling, then more paper will enter recycling bins and more trees will be saved.


 * II. Materials:**

1. Scale 2. Red Paper Recycling Bins 3. Calculator (Microsoft Excel) 4. Paper Trash from Students

SafetyConcerns: If scale is dropped, broken glass. Paper cuts

Rules to Follow:
 * 1) 's 1, 3, 8, 25, 26, 39


 * III. Procedure:**

1. Weigh recycling bins of paper on Friday the 19th 2. Record data 3. Add data 4. Talk to NJHS not to pick up the recycling bins through the week of the 22nd. 5. Make the speech for the competition at the special Town Meeting on the 22nd. 6. Bring it bathroom scale - Kimberly 7. Weigh and collect data again on Friday the 26th. 8. Record data 9. Add all the data together to determine a winner 10. Compare data to see if there was an improvement in recycling after the competition was announced 11. Announce winner


 * IV. Data:**



Based on the graph, there were 56.8 more pounds of waste after the competition was announced on Monday, February 22. Every grade's paper waste increased. The 7th grade showed the largest increase in weight with 36.61 pounds of increase.
 * V. Analysis:**


 * VI. Conclusion:**

My group's hypothesis was if you encourage and award recycling, then more paper will enter recycling bins. Our data supported our hypothesis because all grade level recycling increased after they knew about the competition. A human error in our experiment is that two eighth grade bins were emptied before we could collect data, thus throwing off the eighth grade recycling weight. Still, the eighth grade weight increased despite the two bins. One experimental error was that we did not continue to inform the grades after the town meeting. I believe that even more would have been recycled if we kept reminding them of the competition. Our group was faced with a couple of challenges also. One was that we were in two different classes and it was harder to communicate with the other group members. Our solution to this problem was to email constantly and meet during lunch. Another problem was that people could potentially take paper trash from other grades and put it in theirs. Also, they could just throw away paper without even using it. Our solution was that during the town meeting we told them we were watching them. We could have also told the teachers to watch the bins too. Our experiment was successful.

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