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The strange combination of salt dough and plastic

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All of our (beautiful) experiments picture were taken by us.

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A production for science fair made by a young Bosnian, who has made is own biodegradable plastic bag.

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by Ferhat Avdić
Hi everyone. I guess I'll first introduce myself before I start. I'm Ferhat Avdić. I come from Bosnia and Hercegovina, a little country in South-east Europe. I'm an 18 years old student and I had the chance to participate on project olympiads so that's why I'm writing the article in first place. Now let's move on to stuff you will hopefully have use of. I'll be speaking of my experience using bioplastics as my project, and of what you are expected to do if you want to compete in a science fair or project olympiad.

To keep you interested I will tell you right away: I won a bronze and a silver medal with my bioplastics project.

So what is the goal of a bioplastics project?
Bioplastics are a very good alternative to conventional plastics reducing the world's plastic waste. Unlike conventional plastics, bioplastics are fossil fuel independent and are biodegradable. The main purpose of a bioplastics project is to prove their usability and biodegradability. So to prove the usability of bioplastics, you need to make your own, home-made biopalstics. Creating one sheet of bioplastic is not enough for a project. You need to create lots of different samples, all with a different formula. After measuring the properties of your samples and after you compare them, you will find the right ratio between the ingredients of your bioplastic. At the end you will have a bioplastic utensil as a result, which you can be proud of and which will probably be your winner project.
What are the critical spots of a project?
- Background info about your topic

- Abstract of your project

- Your experiment (variables, hypotheses, materials used, procedure, observations, data tables, graphs, graphs' analysis, conclusion)

- Research paper (this is usually optional but a research paper is the evidence of all the work you did)

- References
What shall you focus on while doing a bioplastics project?
1. To make a good project, you must perform an experiment. Otherwise none of your work will be taken seriously by the judges. If you are not sure what a real experiment actually is, or what parts is an experiment made of, take a minute and search about it on Google. In your case, the experiment is measuring the bioplastic properties by performing tensile tests. While performing such a test you can measure properties of your plastic like tensile strength, stress, strain, elongation, and stiffness. The obtained data from the tests can be written in data tables and afterwards presented in graphs. Having data tables and graphs in a project is necessary to win.

Your plastic is biodegradable, but who will believe it if you don't prove it? Testing the biodegradability of your plastic and taking evidence of it is as important as the tensile tests!

2. Write all the information I mentioned in the critical spots of a project in a research paper. Keep the background info you researched for yourself and write a 1-2 page introduction to the problem you are solving and the alternative you use.

3. Judges always check your references. Make sure you mention some real books as references because web pages alone are not so welcome.

4. Make the display look organized and clean. Don't apply too much colors, winner displays are usually simply made. Don't forget to shoot some pictures of yourself doing the experiment so you can put them on display later. The display shall contain all the information you will be talking about at the exhibition, that means introduction to your experiment and all the information obtained during your experiment. Have in mind, the display of your project makes the first impression!
About the jury and judging:
The jury expects to see something unusual at your stand. They expect to see your very own creation/experiment there. You need to get them interested in your project and to impress them with your exhibition. If you have a bioplastic bag you made yourself at home, they surely never saw anything like it. Be focused and don't forget any of the stuff you want to show or tell to the jury. (You can write down simple notes to remind yourself about anything.) Don't be surprised if the jury doesn't judge your project by the true criteria. This happens a lot at science fairs. You just make sure to get the jury interested in what you exhibit and everything after that will be a lot easier and more effective.
Where did I compete?
I took a part in Burch Olympiad 2012, Bosepo 2013 (10th place out of 51 - silver medal) and Burch olympiad 2013 (3rd place out of 57 - bronze). These two competitions are "project olympiads" where you share your project to others and get judged by the jury. Afterwards the best projects win awards like medals, money, etc.

These are only in my country, but there are international competitions where anybody can compete if they got the money to travel. You might live in the country where one of such competitions is held so it would be a shame if you don't take a project and exhibit it there as you got the chance to.
Why shall you compete?
Such competitions are real fun! The judging is not the only thing that happens there. Important is the friendly atmosphere. Everybody is there to share their idea with others and many people actually make friends. At the end, if you did well, you get money and a medal.
About my bioplastic bag:
Before it stretches it can hold up to 4,5 kg and it holds up to 7 kg before it tears apart.

Ingredients: water, corn starch, glycerine, bovine gelatine, lemon juice, edible colors.

Ratio between ingredients: nobody will ever tell you their secret of their invention, believe me.

To all who chose bioplastics as their science fair project:
You won't regret it. Bioplastics definitely solve a big environmental problem and this project meets all the formally required criteria at competitions. Usually you don't have a whole website supporting the topic you chose, but in case you chose bioplastics you can get any support needed, thanks to Greg Stevens.

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Creating a successful bioplastics science fair project!

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by Ferhat Avdić Hi everyone. I guess I'll first introduce myself before I start. I'm Ferhat Avdić. I come from Bosnia and Hercegovina, a little country in South-east Europe. I'm an 18 years old student and I had the chance to participate on project olympiads so that's why I'm writing the article in first place.

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Shrek's mucus (according to one of our teacher)

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Testing the plastic's elasticity!

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Interesting works about biodegradable plastics.

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The bonus section (careful, what you might see is not always pretty)

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The bonus section (careful, what you might see is not always pretty)

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Greenpack is a company providing a various range of "ecological packaging".

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Natural supplements in eco-friendly packaging | GreenPacks

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Ojetables, is, as well, a website selling disposable diishware, not only biodegrable ones.

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Vaisselle Jetable, Couverts Plastique, Assiette biodégradable... livraison en 24h en France Ojetables

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Profitez de vaisselle jetable professionnelle ! Spécialiste vaisselle jetable en plastique, plus de 2000 references de l'Art de la Table · Livraison en 24 heures !

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Dinovia is a website that sells not only biodegradable plastic cutlery, but also every disposable dishware you might want.

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vente en ligne de vaisselle jetable : assiette jetable

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plateaux repas jetable pour les professionnels de bouche comme les particuliers.

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Vaisselle jetable design en ligne pour les professionnels et particuliers - Dinovia.fr

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Site e-commerce spécialisé dans la distribution et l'édition de vaisselle jetable et solutions packaging : assiettes jetables, verrines, verre et gobelet... pour les professionnels de bouche : traiteurs, agences evenementielles vente à emporter mais aussi pour les particuliers

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Solène is very happy to make plastic!

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Glycerol is the liquid form of glycerine. It is an alcohol made naturally by fermentation of glucose. You can find it in our body, it has an important role in digestion end it's a storage for energy.

It has a wide range of application. You can use it as a gelatine, as a plasticizer, even as a product for the skin. It also has a large use in food industry.

Its formula is C₃H₈O 3. Here is the topologic formula of glycerol.

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Table of contents:

http://padlet.com/CillyKarma/prodfin1S2

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How to make biodegradable plastic disposable tableware

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(or in French : Comment fabriquer de la vaisselle jetable en plastique biodégradable?) A very fine TPE by Louise Duhamel, Solène Chédru, and Léa Lo Van, all of them in the (best) class of 1ère S2 at lycée Notre Dame d’Espérance in St Nazaire.

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I'm sure that when you read our presentation page, you asked you a question: "Why those nicknames ?!" (below the photos of the members). In fact, it's really simple.

♦ The tiny Léa is because she is REALLY tiny; you can see the picture had to be taken closer to the ground in order to even see her.

♦ Louise the dishwasher is because she did really well the dishes (okay, this is a little bit ironic, but at least she tried!).

♦ And we say that Solène is the distilled water diva, because we had a little game, once we had finished our experiments, when we were thirsty. It was to aim at the mouth of one of us with the bottle of distilled water and to try to put the water inside. Of course Solène proudly volunterred and saw herself covered in water in 30 seconds.

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A very simple and effective video on how to make "green plastic" sheets at home:

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Make your own bioplastic (extended version)

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Please visit http://www.green-plastics.net/ for questions and answers about this video and making bioplastics at home! This video shows you how to make starch-based plastic (bioplastic) in your own kitchen, from household ingredients. This version includes some science background, and bloopers/outtakes at the end.

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Starch is the main molecule of storage for carbohydrate in plants and the most important source of carbohydrate in human food. A starch molecule is a polysaccharide (a long molecule composed of monomers) assembled from the simple sugar glucose ; it can contain anywhere from five hundred to several hundred thousand glucose molecules joined by covalent bonds. In addition to its importance in our nutrition, starch has many industrial applications: it is used to make paper, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and biodegradable polymers.

Its formula is (C ₆ H ₁₀ O ₅)n. Here is a topologic representation of the molecule.

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Another TPE made by pupils which presents an overview about biodegradable plastics:

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Site dédié aux travaux pratiques des 1ere S du Lycée La Source ; Le plastique.

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Our contacts:

Bio Futura {en ligne} , Exapaq, 2005. CPLA. Available on : http://www.biofutura.fr/cpla.html .

Dinovia {en ligne}, Infinitic, 2011, ensemble de couverts Biodégradables 3 en 1. Available on: http://www.dinovia.fr/kit-couvert-3-en-1-biodegradable.html?q=naturelle&gamme=all .

Ojetables.fr {en ligne}, Exapaq, 2011, Couverts Biodégradable. Available on: http://www.ojetables.fr/vaisselle-jetable-1/couverts-biodegradable .

Lsbio.fr {en ligne}, Exapaq, 2015, La gamme amidon de maïs. Available on: http://www.lsbio.fr/notre-gamme/la-gamme-bioplastique .

GreenTime [en ligne], Greentime, 2013. Couverts et serviettes. Available on: http://www.greentime.fr/12-couverts-et-serviettes

Scientifics data:
Contributors of Wikipédia, Wikipédia, 2014, l'encyclopédie libre, Acide Polylactique. Available on : http://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Acide_polylactique&oldid=108866301 .

Hachemi Azouz, Memoire Online, 2010, Etude des interactions de mélanges (polymères biodégradables/principe actif) obtenus par différentes méthodes de préparation. Available on : http://www.memoireonline.com/07/11/4591/m_Etude-des-interactions-de-melanges-polymeres-biodegradablesprincipe-actif-obtenus-par-differe12.html .

PDF, GGP Green Library, Gulf green pack, 2009-2010, BioPlastics. Available on : http://gulfgreenpack.com/data/BioPlastics.pdf .

Biodegradable Food Service, LLC, 2012, Materials FAQ. Available on : http://www.earth-to-go.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=55%3Amaterials-faq&catid=16&Itemid=197 .

Torben Lenau, Design inSite, 2008, Material PLA - Polylactide. Available on : http://www.designinsite.dk/htmsider/m0956.htm .

Contributors of Wikipédia, Wikipédia, 2015, The free Encyclopedia. Available on : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polylactic_acid#cite_note-3 .

Contributors of Green Plastics, Greenplastics, 2010, Polymers. Available on : http://greenplastics.com/wiki/Polymers .

Contributors of Green Plastics, Greenplastics, 2010, Green plastics. Available on : http://greenplastics.com/wiki/Bioplastics .

Contributors of Futura-Sciences, Made in Futura, 2001, Polymère. Available on : http://www.futura-sciences.com/magazines/matiere/infos/dico/d/chimie-polymere-803/ .

Le site des éditions Larousse, Larousse, 2008, Polymère. Available on : http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/polymère/62336 .

Bruno Hennoque, Centre départemental de ressources en sciences de l'Yonne, 2008, fabrication de films biodégradables (type «plastique») à partir d’amidon de maïs. Available on:
http://ia89.ac-dijon.fr/sciences/spip.php?article108= Our pictures: Wikipedia, available on : https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/2008-07-14_Biodegradable_cups_at_Chubby%27s_Tacos.jpg
Biofutura.fr, available on : http://www.biofutura.fr/media/catalog/product/cache/5/image/800x600/040ec09b1e35df139433887a97daa66f/f/i/file_24.jpg Globalsources.com, available on: http://p.globalsources.com/IMAGES/PDT/B1071235407/PSM-Cutlery.jpg Wikimedia, available on : https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/BiodegradablePlasticUtensils1.jpg Toyota.com, available on : http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/environmental_rep/03/special/image08.gif
Science amusante, available on: http://wiki.scienceamusante.net/index.php?title=Glyc%C3%A9rol

Web vision learning, available on: http://web.visionlearning.com/custom/chemistry/custom/images/starch_yellow2.gif