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Energy Resources Lesson 7

Using a Product’s Life Cycle

Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support Lesson 7 Energy Resources 127

Subject/Target GradeScience and Social Studies/ Middle School (7-9)

Duration45 minutes – Classroom setting

Materials per class• 6home-grown or locally grown apples• individual serving size packs of

applesauce• jar of applesauce• EPA’s Life Cycle of a CD or DVD

(poster: large size) • Life Cycle Assessment (transparency

master)• Pollution Prevention (The 3Rs)

(transparency master)• Product Life Cycle Stages Cards (optional

student activity on the MEECS Energy Resources CD)

• The Life Cycle of a CD or DVD (answer key)

• overhead projector

per small group• CD (1 per group)• EPA’s Life Cycle of a CD or DVD

(poster: small size) per student• large sheet of paper • markers• Self-Assessment: Student Product

Choice and Use (student activity)• The Life Cycle of a CD or DVD

(student activity)

Lesson OverviewThe lesson introduces the concept of a product life cycle and how it can be used as tool for the consumer to make more environmentally friendly product choices. The lesson uses the life cycle of a CD or DVD as an example to investigate the life cycle of an everyday product and examine options for reusing, recycling, or disposing of the item after its useful life. Students are introduced to pollution prevention strategies (the three Rs), how consumers can use them, and how the strategies can be incorporated at different stages of a product’s life cycle to make a product more economically and environmentally sustainable.

Students answer these essential questions: What are the economic, social, and environmental consequences of your product choices? What tools and data can consumers use to help make better decisions about energy and resource use and personal actions?

Objectives Students will be able to:1. Describe how life cycle assessments are used. 2. Describe the benefits of pollution prevention

(reduce, reuse, and recycle).3. Analyze the life cycle of a CD and design a more

environmentally friendly CD.

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Lesson 7 Using a Product’s Life Cycle

128 Energy Resources Lesson 7 Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support

Advance Preparation You may order an additional classroom size copy of the EPA’s The Life Cycle of a CD or DVD for your classroom by calling 1-800-424-9346. Additional student size posters may be downloaded from http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/education/pdfs/finalposter.pdf.

Note: The printout of the 8-1/2” x 11” version is hard to read; print the poster as 11” x 14”.

Background InformationWe consume energy directly and indirectly. The products, food, and services we purchase all have embodied energy, the energy used to create them, within them. It takes both resources and energy to make, package, and transport the products we use and grow the food we eat. It also takes energy to dispose of the products when we are done using them. Therefore, our product choices have direct and indirect economic, social, and environmental consequences. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool consumers can use to make better decisions about the products they buy and how they use them. Designers and engineers use LCA to make more economical and environmentally sustainable products.

Assessing a product’s life cycle includes examining the human impacts, energy, materials, and wastes at each stage of a product’s life cycle from cradle (the inception of the idea) to the grave (disposal).

The basic areas of life cycle assessment are:

Design – Includes coming up with an idea for a product and deciding what materials will be used to make it, how it will be made, how long it will last, etc. A product’s design affects each stage of its life cycle and, therefore, its social, economic, and environmental impact.

Materials Acquisition – The process of obtaining raw materials. All products are made from some raw materials, which come directly from the Earth, like trees or iron ore. Obtaining raw materials may require harvesting timber or mining. The acquisition of raw materials uses energy, depletes natural resources, and impacts the environment. Using recycled or recovered materials usually saves energy and natural resources.

Materials Processing – The process of converting raw materials into a form that can be used to make products. Each separate process creates waste and consumes energy.

Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations

Grade 6-7 Science:• Describe the effect humans and other

organisms have on the balance of the natural world. S.RS.06.17, S.RS.07.17

• Describe the origins of pollution in the atmosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere, (car exhaust, industrial emissions, acid rain, and natural sources), and how pollution impacts habitats, climatic change, threatens or endangers species. E.ES.07.42

HS Earth Science:• Critique solutions to problems, given

criteria and scientific constraints. E1.2f• Identify scientific tradeoffs in design

decisions and choose among alternative solutions (e.g., best management practices, resource quantity and quality trade-offs). E1.2g

• Describe the life cycle of a product, including the resources, production, packaging, transportation, disposal, and pollution. E2.4d

Social Studies:• Engage in activities intended to contribute

to solving a national or international problem. 6 – P4.2.2, 7 – P4.2.2, 8 – P4.2.2

• Describe the environmental effects of human action on the atmosphere, biosphere lithosphere and hydrosphere. 6 – G5.1.1, 7 – G5.1.1

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Using a Product’s Life Cycle Lesson 7


Manufacturing – The process of converting the materials into the useful product. Manufacturing processes use energy and create waste at each step.

Packaging – Many products are packaged in paper or plastic, which also undergo separate manufacturing processes that use energy, consume natural resources, and create waste. While packaging serves an important purpose, it is often excessive.

Distribution – Products are transported to different locations where they are sold, but the materials and parts used to make the product may have been transported during earlier stages in the life cycle. Transportation uses energy and generates greenhouse gases.

Use – The way products are used impacts the environment. Reusable, durable, and recyclable products conserve natural resources, use less energy, and create less waste than disposable, single-use products. Generally, the longer the useful life of the product, the less impact it has on the environment compared to other products serving the same purpose.

Reuse/Recycling – Recycling or remanufacturing products into something new reduces the amount of raw materials that have to be used in the manufacturing process and usually saves energy.

Disposal – When we throw products into the trash, we end their useful life. Disposal uses transportation energy, creates pollution, and impacts the environment by taking up landfill space.

Source: U.S. EPA, Solid Waste and Emergency Response. (2003). The Life Cycle of a CD or DVD. Poster. Washington, DC: Solid Waste and Emergency Response.

We can use pollution prevention (reduce, reuse, recycle) strategies at different stages of a product’s life cycle to help make better use of limited resources and the energy it takes to extract, transport, process, and dispose of products after their useful lives.

The hierarchy of pollution prevention is as follows:

• Reduce The first step in pollution prevention is to reduce

the use of something or substitute a less toxic material when possible. It is economically and environmentally cheaper to prevent pollution than to clean it up later. Buying products with less packaging is another way to reduce waste and unnecessary consumption of energy and resources.

• Reuse The next step in the pollution prevention

hierarchy is to reuse products. If one cannot personally reuse household items like clothes, furniture, and toys, they can be donated to second-hand stores, so that someone else can use them.

• Recycle The last method of pollution prevention is

recycling. Recycling has environmental and economic tradeoffs. It takes energy to not only produce goods, but also to recycle or dispose of them. Recycling is often a better choice than disposal, because it typically takes less energy to recycle materials than to extract, process, and transport raw materials from the Earth.

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Procedure

1. How do you choose products and what do you do with them when you are done using them?

Students complete the Self-assessment: Student Product Choice and Use student activity.

2. Introduce the life cycle of an apple.

Show all students six home-grown apples (or locally grown apples), a store-bought jar of applesauce, and an individual serving pack of applesauce. Use the following questions to generate a class discussion. Which product would you purchase for lunch? Why? [Answers will vary.] Which product do you think cost the least? [Home-grown apples.] Which product do you think took the least amount of energy to produce? [Home-grown apples.] Which product do you think will take the least amount of energy for disposal? [Home-grown apples.] Which product do you think has the least impact on the environment? [Home-grown apples.]

In general, products that are local, have been processed minimally, and have minimum packaging are the most environmentally friendly.

Hold up one apple. The apple is a product of a living thing. Recall from elementary school that all living things have life cycles. What are the stages of the apple’s life cycle? Draw or write-out the life cycle of an apple on the board (seed to tree to blossom to pollination to formation of apple (fruit) to fruit eaten by animals to seed deposited in soil…). What other things are needed for the formation of an apple? [Light (energy from the sun), water, nutrients (fertilizer), etc.].

Hold up the jar of applesauce. Do you think that this jar of applesauce has a life cycle? Explain to the students that just like living things, products also have life cycles and each step of the product life cycle has a name.

3. Use the classroom size Life Cycle of a CD or DVD poster to introduce students to the basic stages of life cycle assessment.

Optional: First give students the Product Life Cycle Stages Cards on the MEECS CD and have them physically arrange them in the order they think they should be arranged.

Design - Includes coming up with an idea for a product and determining what will be used to make it, how it will be made, how long it will last, etc. A product’s design affects each stage of its life cycle and, therefore, its social, economic, and environmental impact.

Materials Acquisition – The process of obtaining and transporting raw materials and previously manufactured components.

Materials Processing – The process of converting raw materials into a form that can be used to make products.

Manufacturing – The process of converting materials and other manufactured goods into a useful product.

Packaging – Packaging protects the product and can enhance its marketability.

Distribution – Products are transported to where they are sold.

Use – The intended and unintended ways the customer uses products.

Reuse/Recycling – Reusing, recycling, or remanufacturing products into new ones.

Disposal – The transportation and disposal of a product in a landfill, an incinerator, or in the environment.

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Designers and engineers use LCA to make more economical and environmentally sustainable products, and we as consumers can use LCA to help us make more environmentally sound purchasing decisions.

6. Display the Pollution Prevention overhead transparency.

Designers and manufacturers can incorporate pollution prevention strategies (reduce, reuse, recycle) into different stages of a product’s life cycle to make products more economically and environmentally friendly. Consumers can also use pollution prevention strategies such as reduce, reuse, and recycle after the purchase of a product.

7. Students use the Life Cycle of a CD or DVD mini poster to answer the Life Cycle of a CD or DVD student activity questions.

1. Which materials are used to make CDs and

DVDs? (The materials used to make CDs and DVDs include aluminum, polycarbonate, lacquer, gold, dyes, water, glass, silver and nickel.)

2. Are the materials renewable or non-

renewable? (All the materials used to make CDs and DVDs are non-renewable, except for water.)

3. Which stages of the life cycle use energy? (Energy is used at each stage of the life cycle including materials acquisition, materials processing, manufacturing, packaging, transportation/distribution, useful life (to play the CD or DVD), reuse (to play the CD or DVD), recycling, and disposal.)

4. Which stages of the life cycle do you think

create wastes? (Wastes are created at each stage of the product’s life cycle.)

4. Have students examine a CD or DVD.

What questions do you have about the life cycle of a CD? Students will be able to answer these questions later in the lesson. What materials are used to make the CD or DVD? Where did the materials come from? What types of energy are used and pollution produced in the production and transport of this product? What is the useful life of a CD or DVD? What do you do with them when you are done using them? Do you ever think about these questions when you purchase a product….

Life cycle assessment of a product can help us answer these questions and understand the economic, social, and environment impacts of our product choices.

5. What is a life cycle assessment? Display the (LCA) overhead transparency.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) looks at the economics, human impact, energy, materials, and wastes produced at each stage of a product’s life cycle from cradle (design) to grave (disposal).

How can we use a life cycle assessment? LCA informs a manufacturer if the environmental stresses associated with their product (or service) is from their supply chain, their factory, consumer use, or final disposal. The manufacturer can then focus efforts on the particular stage of a product life cycle that results in the greatest environmental impact, or they may design a product so it is more easily disassembled and reused at the end of its life. Manufacturers may also learn that they need to work more closely with their customers to limit the environmental impact of a product (or service) during consumer use. For example, a consumer can reduce the environmental impact if they wash clothes with colder water, or place dishes in the dishwasher without first rinsing.

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5. Which of the following actions uses the least amount of energy and resources: reusing the CD or DVD, recycling the CD or DVD, or disposing of the CD or DVD? (Reusing the CD or DVD uses the least amount of energy and resources.)

6. How can designers and manufacturers make a more environmentally friendly, or sustainable, CD or DVD? What changes could be made at each step 1-6 to make the product better for the environment? (Answers will vary.)

8. Homework. Students use their responses to question 6 to

design a new more environmentally friendly life cycle of a CD or DVD incorporating their ideas on large sheets of paper.

Hang the posters in the classroom for peer review.

2. Students could compare paper and plastic bags using the interactive Life Cycle Analysis of Paper and Plastic Bags Michigan Technological University Tech Alive Web Module. (http://techalive.mtu.edu/meec_index.htm or http://techalive.mtu.edu/meec/module14/title.htm.)

9. Summary understandings.

We use energy directly and indirectly in the products and services we purchase and use. Product choices have direct and indirect economic, social, and environmental consequences that should be considered when making purchasing decisions.

Analyzing a product’s life cycle can help us make informed purchasing decisions and end-of-life choices (reuse, recycle, or dispose).

Pollution prevention (reduce, reuse, recycle) strategies can help us make better use of limited resources and the energy it takes to extract, transport, process, and dispose of them.

Careful purchasing along with the 3Rs can help us conserve energy and raw materials, and minimize pollution and waste.

Assessment Options1. Ask students to write a paragraph describing

how life cycle assessments are used.

2. Have students write a poem describing the benefits of pollution prevention (reduce, reuse, recycle).

3. The homework assignment (step 8) can be used as an assessment.

Adaptations/Extensions/Enhancements1. Students could plan an eco-friendly class lunch

that uses a minimum of disposable goods. They can recycle and compost as much of the “garbage” as possible.

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3. Encourage students to explore waste and landfills using the interactive Where Does Our Garbage Go? Michigan Technological University Tech Alive Web Module. Retrieved October 20, 2010, from http://techalive.mtu.edu/meec.htm or http://techalive.mtu.edu/meec/module15/title.htm.

4. Students could play the U.S. EPA’s Recycle City

game to learn more about pollution prevention (http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity/).

ReferencesUnited Nations Environment Programme. Is the Future Yours? A Survey on Youth and Consumption. Retrieved May 8, 2004, from http://www.uneptie.org/pc/sustain/reports/youth/youthquest-en.pdf.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Solid Waste and Emergency Response. (2003). Life Cycle of a CD or DVD. (Poster). Washington DC: United States Environmental Protection Agency. Available at http://epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/students/finalposter.pdf.

Additional ResourcesGarbage 2: Recycling, the second in a two-part lesson plan on the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Science NetLinks web site, informs students about the problems of waste disposal and how recycling can help reduce the amount of waste. The focus is on what goes into everyday items that are typically discarded and how valuable materials can be recovered through recycling. Retrieved October 20, 2010, from http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.cfm?Grade=3-5&BenchmarkID=8&DocID=386.

The Institute for Market Transformation to Sustainability has links to sustainable product standards and certification programs for various types of products and services (e.g., forest products, organic foods, electric power, buildings) that meet third-party social, economic, and environmental criteria. Retrieved October 20, 2010, from http://www.mts.sustainableproducts.com/standards.htm.

The Life Cycle of Everyday Stuff, a curriculum for grades 8-12 from the National Science Teachers Association, examines energy and material flow associated with common items. Seven sections designed to stand alone or as a series include hands-on activities. Reeske, M. and Ireton, S. (2001). The Life Cycle of Everyday Stuff. Arlington, VA: National Science Teachers Association. Life Cycle of Everyday Stuff is a book for sale. Retrieved October 20, 2010, from http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?id=10.2505/9780873551878.

5. Students could learn about hazardous and nonhazardous waste using the resources on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Solid Waste and Emergency Response. A Collection of Solid Waste Resources, 2003 Edition. (CD). Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (Included with the unit.)

6. Students complete the Life Cycle of a Sport Shoe activity (on the MEECS Energy Resources CD) to learn about the energy and resources required to make and dispose of a sport shoe.

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Pollution Prevention (P2) in Michigan, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s web site for pollution prevention information and assistance, includes resources for energy efficiency, recycling, and green purchasing, plus links to business partnership programs and the Retired Engineer Technical Assistance Program (RETAP). Retrieved October 20, 2010, from http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3585---,00.html.

Projects: Michigan Recycling Measurement Study, a two-part report on collection and diversion of municipal solid waste and the economic impact of recycling, points out that Michigan’s 20-percent recycling rate amounts to a $2 billion industry in the state. The project report provides the most detailed information available about the status of recycling in Michigan. Michigan Recycling Coalition. (2003). Lansing, MI: Michigan Recycling Coalition. Retrieved October 20, 2010, from http://www.michiganrecycles.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23&Itemid=9.

The Quest for Less: A Teacher’s Guide to Reducing, Reusing, Recycling. Unit 1: Product Life Cycles. This unit of a curriculum from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response develops a foundation for understanding the importance of managing waste properly. Students will learn where common products come from, how much and what kind of waste is created during production and disposal, and why it is important to prevent waste in the first place and to recycle, compost, and reuse. Retrieved October 20, 2010, from http://www.epa.gov/wastes/education/quest/pdfs/unit1/chap2/u1-2_product-life.pdf.

Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things is an 86-page book that traces how nine common items are produced, how they impact the environment, and what we can do as consumers to reduce our impact. Ryan, J. and Durning, A. (1997). Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things. Seattle, WA: Northwest Environment Watch. Available for $14.95. Retrieved October 20, 2010, from http://www.northwestwatch.org/publications/stuff.asp.

Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things Curriculum Guide, developed by the British Columbia-based nonprofit group NEW BC to accompany Northwest Environmental Watch’s 1997 book of the same name (above), takes an approach to science, social studies, and environmental education that encourages students to think about what really goes into the items they use every day. NEW BC (2000). Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things Curriculum Guide. Victoria, BC: NEW BC. Retrieved October 20, 2010, from http://www.sightline.org/publications/books/stuff.

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Self-assessment: Student Product Choice and Use

Directions:Choose the response that would most often be the major influence in your decision to buy something.

1. Clothes(jeans,t-shirts,shoes,etc.)

a. lowest cost b. highest quality c. best value d. best style e. most ecologically friendly

2. Personalcare(shampoos,creams,deodorant,etc.)

a. lowest cost b. highest quality c. best value d. brand name e. most ecologically friendly

3. Food(snacksandmeals)

a. lowest cost b. highest quality c. best value d. best taste e. most ecologically friendly

4.Electronics(television,stereo,computer,etc.)

a. lowest cost b. highest quality c. best value d. brand name e. most ecologically friendly

5. What do you do with your products when you are done using them? Write always(a), sometimes(s), or never(n) in the columns, to indicate your end-of-life actions.

Product Reuse Recycle/Compost Dispose (self or other)

Clothing

CDs

Plastic bags

Soft drink cans/bottles

Newspapers

Magazines

Other aluminum cans

Video games

Pizza boxes

Paper bags

Packaging materials

Leftover food

Survey adapted from: United Nations Environment Programme. IstheFutureYours?ASurveyonYouthandConsumption. Retrieved May 8, 2004, from http://www.uneptie.org/pc/sustain/reports/youth/youthquest-en.pdf.

ST

UDEN

T ACTIVITYName_______________________

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TR

AN

SPARENCY MAST

ER

Life Cycle Assessment

What is a life cycle assessment?

How can we use a life cycle assessment?

The basic stages of a life cycle assessment are:

Design

MaterialsAcquisition

MaterialsProcessing

Manufacturing

Packaging

Distribution

Use

Reuse/Recycling

DisposalFor P

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TR

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SPARENCY MAST

ER

Pollution Prevention(The 3Rs)

Thepollutionpreventionhierarchy:

1st REDUCE the use of something or use a more environmentally friendly alternative.

2nd REUSE something instead of throwing it away.

3rd RECYCLE (or compost) to save energy and resources.

Disposal is the last choice.

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ST

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T ACTIVITYNames_____________________________________________________TheLifeCycleofaCDorDVD,Page 1 of 2

The Life Cycle of a CD or DVD

1. What materials are used to make CDs and DVDs?

2. Are the materials renewable or non-renewable?

3. Which stages of the life cycle use energy?

4. Which stages of the life cycle do you think create wastes?

5. Which of the following actions do you think uses the least energy and resources:

reuse the CD or DVD; recycle the CD or DVD; dispose of the CD or DVD?

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6. How can designers and manufacturers make a more environmentally friendly, or

sustainable, CD or DVD? What changes could be made at each step of the Life Cycle

of the CD or DVD to make the product better for the environment?

EnvironmentallyFriendlyChanges

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Step 5:

Step 6:

ST

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T ACTIVITYNames_____________________________________________________TheLifeCycleofaCDorDVD,Page 2 of 2

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AnswerKeyTheLifeCycleofaCDorDVD,Page 1 of 2

The Life Cycle of a CD or DVD

1. What materials are used to make CDs and DVDs?

2. Are the materials renewable or non-renewable?

3. Which stages of the life cycle use energy?

4. Which stages of the life cycle do you think create wastes?

5. Which of the following actions do you think uses the least energy and resources:

reuse the CD or DVD; recycle the CD or DVD; dispose of the CD or DVD?

ThematerialsusedtomakeCDsandDVDsincludealuminum,

polycarbonate,laquer,gold,dyes,water,glass,silver,andnickel.

AllthematerialsusedtomakeCDsandDVDsarenon-renewable,

exceptwater.

Energyisusedateverystageofthelifecycleincludingmaterialsacquisition,

materialsprocessing,manufacturing,packaging,transportation/distribution,

usefullife(toplaytheCDorDVD),reuse(toplaytheCDorDVDs,recycling,

anddisposal.

Wastesarecreatedateverystageoftheproduct’slifecycle.

ReusingtheCDorDVDusestheleastamountofenergyandresources.For P

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6. How can designers and manufacturers make a more environmentally friendly, or

sustainable, CD or DVD? What changes could be made at each step of the Life Cycle

of the CD or DVD to make the product better for the environment?

EnvironmentallyFriendlyChanges

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Step 5:

Step 6:

AnswerKeyTheLifeCycleofaCDorDVD,Page 2 of 2

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Only - cmich.edu Geographic... · pollution prevention (reduce, reuse, recycle) strategies at different stages of a product’s life cycle to help make better use of limited resources