8+Science+1+Kate's+MSW+Project

Plastic Cups VS. Biodegradable Cups
 * Kate Bernard . 3/4/10 . 8-1

I. Introduction** Annie, Renni, Megan, and I did our project on Municipal Solid Waste, otherwise known as urban waste is. Municipal Solid Waste is a type of waste that includes waste from households and businesses. In our project, we would like to use cups that are biodegradable compared to non-biodegradable cups. We would like to use biodegradable cups because this way when they are disposed of and taken to landfills, they will biodegrade and take up less space in landfills. The purpose of our experiment is to measure the volume and mass that a non-biodegradable cup takes in a landfill, and see if we can minimize the amount of space a cup takes in a landfill by using biodegradable cups. If we change the kind of cups we use at school then the amount of waste from cups coming from CCDS Middle School will decrease.

-2 had counters -Calculator -Scale -Biodegradable cups
 * II. Materials**
 * -**Beaker

Safety Concerns and Precautions - #1 - #2 - #3 - #5 - #7 - #8 - #12 - #14 - #18

1. Collect materials and passes for the appropriate study halls 2. Annie and Megan count cups fourth period on wed. 3. Kate and Renni count cups during Advisory Snack on wed. 4. Annie and Kate count cups 5/6th grade lunch on wed. 5. Renni and Megan count cups 7/8th gade lunch on wed. 6. Renni and Megan count cups during fourth period on thurs. 7. Renni and Megan count cups 5/6th grade on thurs. 8. Annie and Kate count cups 7/8th grade on thurs. 9. Kate and Annie count cups 5/6th grade on wed. 10. Renni and Megan count cups 7/8th grade on wed. 11. Compare data, find average of both days 12. Compare cos of cups,Current/Biodegradable 13. Find month and year cup data (how much, how many) 14. Volume of number of cups 15. Make data table and graph the results from our experiment
 * III. Procedure**

IV- Kind of cups DV- Amount of waste from cups coming out of CCDS Middle School CG- Waste from original cups EG- Waste from biodegradable

Number Of Cups Used In Charlotte Country Day Cafeteria** 2/10/10 || Thursday 2/11/10 || Wednsday 2/24/10 || Total number of cups per year: 45,638 cups Total volume of cups per year: 593,294 mL
 * IV. Data Table
 * || Wednesday
 * Advisory || 54 cups || 48 cups || 22 cups ||
 * 4th || 4 cups || 11 cups || 3 cups ||
 * 5/6th || 142 cups || 189 cups || 135 cups ||
 * 7/8th || 91 cups || 68 cups || 96 cups ||


 * V. Analysis**

Trends in our data were that fifth and sixth graders use a lot more cups than anyone else. Also, teachers in fourth period use a lot fewer cups than anyone else.
 * Projected Number Of Cups Used In CCDS Cafeteria**
 * || Per Week || Per Year || Volume of Cups ||
 * Advisory || N/A || 1,322 cups || 17,186 mL ||
 * 4th || 30 cups || 1,080 cups || 14,040 mL ||
 * 5/6th || 776 cups || 27,936 cups || 363,168 mL ||
 * 7/8th || 425 cups || 15,300 cups || 198,900 mL ||

My hypothesis was if we change the kind of cups we use at school then the amount of waste from cups coming from CCDS Middle School will decrease. Our hypothesis was supported because our projected data shows that we we came up with a solution that would decrease the amount of waste coming from CCDS Middle School. Our solution is to use more biodegradable and compostable cups to decrease the amount of waste. An error that occured was the amount of days we collected data. This was an experimental error. Some challenges we had were figuring out what days and times we were going to be able to collect data. Another problem was who was going to collect it.
 * VI. Conclusion**

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