Ten surprising items that cannot be recycled

The thinkers keys are extra activities the teacher has made to work on while waiting for the next activity to complete. This term we have been learning about recycling and how it benefits the earth. This key I am very proud of.

How much do you know about recycling ?

We have been learning about how recycling helps save the planet. Brielle an I made this quiz and I hope it teaches you something. I found the linking challenging because it took forever and we had to make sure they went to the correct slide. Next time I would change the colours but overall I am happy.

I think I am wearing plastic. How is this

Right now you are probably wearing plastic. How is it made into clothing?

Ever wonder what happens to the coke bottle you just threw in the recycling? Or where some or your clothes come from? The bottles go on a magical journey far far away. Not really but they do something very interesting.

The rubbish truck has just arrived to take away that bottle you just finished, you see it leave but wonder what happens to it.The bottle goes to the local recycling center where it is shredded, wrapped in cellophane and  sent on a vacation to a factory in China.

Now they are in China and are sorted and removed from their lids. The bottle shreds are sorted  so the coloured plastic and the clear plastic are separated. The coloured plastic is put into a bath of water to remove the bottle cap shreds. The plastic  is put into another bath to get rid of the stickers but the worker need to be extremely cautious because this bath is made of a toxic soda.

Next the bottle shreds have  been removed of their labels and dried out from the two baths. The plastic shreds are clearly drenched in liquid so the go into a turning drum oven to slowly dry out over about ten hours. Once the plastic is dry the workers come along with large, movable  bins and collect the falling heated plastic.

Then the plastic is melted and turned into strands. The plastic from the bins are transferred into a large, heated , rotating screw to combine into threads. The 270 degree mix is now running through a sieve to turn the plastic liquid into long strands. The strands are collected in another container and taken away.

The plastic is taken from the containers and woven together. The plastic strands are combined and stretched  several times until the fibres are combined and strong. The plastic matter is shredded again  and the fluff that emerges is taken to another factory.

Now the Fluff is carded, spun and woven. In this factory the fluff is carded together to get the fibres running in a similar direction. The plastic web is put into a container and teased out and spun on some spinning bobbins. The strands collected on the bobbin are put through a mechanical loom to weave the fibres together and create fabric.

The next step is to put the fabric into a delicate machine that creates tiny loops on the surface of the material. The looped fabric is put through another machine, however this is the complete opposite purpose.This machine puts the fabric through a rough steel brush to pull and cut the loops. This is so the fabric has a soft, furry feeling.

Designers draw templates and cut shapes out of the material and send it to the sewers to become the most trendy new clothes. The sewers sew together the pieces to make cloths. At this time they also put designs on them and change their colours.

You stare at your fave hoodie made from polyester and think…’ Am I wearing coke bottles?

So the bottles have been shredded, melted, spun, woven, cut and sewed and now they are clothes. Isn't that amazing how we can do that?’

Thanks for reading. I found the planning stage rather challenging because it took me forever. Next time I would change how I worded the  explanation but over all I am very happy with it. I think my next steps are to add more detail and work on the images.

Square or Rhombus ? Lets see !

We have been learning to identify the attributes of  Quadrilaterals. Sorry I wanted to do a screen castify but it wasn't working. I found making the shapes enjoyable but very time consuming.