Project S-SOAR

Username:

Test A. Plastic vs. Paper Bags

This test is to show how you find information online. Do what you normally do when you use the Internet to find information. There is no right or wrong answer.

Scenario: Recently, many cities have moved to ban plastic bags in an effort to improve the environment. However, there is evidence that paper bags may also be bad for the environment.

Your Job: Your city is considering banning plastic bags. Compile information that will help you write a letter to your local newspaper expressing your position about whether your city should ban plastic bags. You will not actually write the letter, but you will do online research and organize your research into an outline.

1. Find at least three websites that have good information about this topic.

2. Gather information from these websites that supports your position.

3. Create an outline that organizes and categorizes the information in a way that supports your position.

4. Write your position statement at the top of the page so that the outline is below it.

5. Be sure to cite your sources.

Please click the save button often:
When you are done, click the save button, and then the download button: Download
After your test has downloaded, close this page and log out.

Using plastic bags are bad for the environment:

Have you ever seen a plastic bag floating down a river or one tumbling on the street. Did you know that this is very harmful many animals? Do you know how many animals this has killed? The answer is a lot, this is because many places use plastic bags.

How many sea turtles die from plastic bags?
https://conserveturtles.org/information-sea-turtles-threats-marine-debris/ (A)
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/what-a-plastic-bag-looks-like-to-a-sea-turtle/ (B)

A little bit over a million sea turtles die  from eating plastic bags. sea turtles eat jellyfish and plastic bags are physically similar. imagine if your a small sea turtle looking for food and you see a plastic bag float by you won\\t know the difference between it and a jellyfish. Also plastic has many harmful toxins, most of them can kill sea turtles.

What are plastic bags made of?
http://www.killerkott.org/plastic-bag/ (C)

Plastic bags are made of oil that is harmful to small animals. It takes a very long time for plastic to decompose. As the plastic slowly decomposes it releases harmful chemicals. Some plastic has chemicals that can speed up the decomposition and that means the chemicals are released faster.

Are paper bags better than plastic bags?
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/ask-mr-green/whats-better-for-environment-paper-bags-or-plastic-bags (D)

Paper and  plastic bags are equally wasteful. The pros of having paper is that its biodegradable but the cons are that it wastes trees. The pros of having plastic is that they are not made from plants or animals but the con is that they are not biodegradable paper is better.

Using plastic is harmful for not only sea creature but for small animals as well. I hope grocery stores can start using plastic bags.  If you don\\t ever want to see a hurt turtle because they ate plastic  email your local grocer and try to get them to switch to paper bags instead.

Download