Ocean Plastics
Science| Ages 11-14
Lesson 1
How are plastics
made?
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
List all the things
we can do, and
make, with oil...
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
Learning objectives
1. State that plastics are made from oil.
2. Describe the steps involved in making plastic.
3. State what a monomer and a polymer is.
4. Describe how changing a substance’s structure can change its properties
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
How might we
turn oil
into a hard
plastic?
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
Move around
the room and
discover how
are plastics
made…
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
Recap steps
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
What have we
changed to
make oil become
plastic?
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
Monomers & Polymers
Mono = one
Poly = many
A monomer is an individual unit. A polymer is a chain of the same monomers
chemically bonded. When many monomers chemically join to form a polymer,
we call this polymerisation.
H H
C C
H H H H H H H H
H H
C C Monomers H C C C C C C H
H H
H H H H H H
H H
C C
H H
Polymer
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
Thermoplastic vs Thermosetting Plastics
Thermoplastic: Thermosetting plastic:
Consists of long polymer chains with Consists of long, heavy chains with
few cross-links. many cross-link chains.
This means when heated it becomes Soft when first made. But once set
soft and can be reshaped. When they are very stiff and can not be
cooled it returns solid again. heated and reshaped.
Plastic polymer chain
Plastic polymer chain
Cross-link
Cross-link
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
Thermoplastic vs Thermosetting Plastics
Arrange the materials into two categories: thermoplastic and thermosetting
plastics
Thermoplastics Thermosetting plastics
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
Thermoplastic vs Thermosetting Plastics
Arrange the materials into two categories: thermoplastic and thermosetting
plastics
Thermosetting Thermoplastics
Epoxy resin (ER) Polypropylene (PP)
Melamine formaldehyde (MF) Polyethylene (PET)
Polyester resin (PR) Polycarbonate (PC)
Urea formaldehyde (UF) Polyamide (Nylon)
Phenol formaldehyde (PF) High impact polystyrene (HIP)
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
Making Slime
Method:
1. Fill a cup with ½ inch of glue
2. Add 2 table spoons of water
3. Add food colouring PVA
4. Add 2 table spoons of borax
powder Borax
5. Stir very well
6. Leave to rest for 1 minute How does it work?
PVA is a polymer. The borax goes in
between the polymer strands and
connects them. Therefore they act like
longer chains. This gives slime a new
texture.
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
Reflection
Write down:
• 1 thing you loved
• 1 thing you would bin
• 1 thing you will recycle
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
Home Learning
1. Find 5 products at home made of plastic.
2. Photograph the symbols printed or etched on to the plastic.
3. Bring an A4 sized sheet of the photographs.
4. Add a key stating what these symbols mean.
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
Image credits
Slide Title Attribution
1 Plastic bottles By Itsanan via Bigstock
4, 7 Crude oil By Glasbruch 2007 via Wikimedia
5 Plastic pellets By Feiern1 via Pixabay
All other images are courtesy of Encounter Edu
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
Oil rig
Oil rigs can be found on land and at
sea. They drill down and remove
crude oil from the ground. Crude oil is
a mixture of many substances, but
most important are the hydrocarbons
(molecules made of hydrogen and
carbon).
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
Oil refinery
1. Fractional distillation
The parts of crude oil can be
separated out through a process
called fractional distillation.
The crude oil is heated until it
vaporizes. It is put into a
column where the different oils
separate out.
2. Cracking
During cracking, Naptha oil is broken down
from a 10-carbon chain molecule to many
2-carbon chain molecules.
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
Chemical factory
1. Polymerisation
The smaller 2 carbon chain
molecules are monomers. Now these
2 chain molecules are rejoined to
make very long chains called
polymers. This is done using a
catalyst.
2. Chemical additives
Plasticisers and other chemicals are
added to improve the quality of the
plastic. These can change the
material’s colour, flexibility, and
stability to heat.
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
Pellets
The plastic pellets are made
of hydrocarbon chains and
chemical additives.
These pellets can be shipped
to factories across the world
to create lots of different
products
Lesson 1: How are plastics made?
Moulding
The pellets are heated. The
plastic becomes a soft resin
which can be injected into
moulds. The resin cools and
is released from the mould.
The plastic now has the
desired shape.
