Climate Change Solutions = Bacteria?

Yesterday marked our last day before Spring Break! We're off until March 21. =) My 8th grade class is in the midst of our unit on Weather and Climate. We spent a significant amount of time reviewing the evidence and data that shows our climate is changing.

Next Generation Science Standards:

MS-ESS2-5.

Collect data to provide evidence for how the motions and complex interactions of air masses results in changes in weather conditions.

MS-ESS2-6.

Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates.

MS-ESS3-2.

Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects

MS-ESS3-3.

Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

MS-ESS3-4.

Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and percapita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.

MS-ESS3-5.

Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

Disciplinary Core Ideas:

Weather and Climate, Natural Resources, Human Impact, Climate Change

Cross Cutting Concepts:

Cause and Effect, Systems and Models, Patterns, Stability and Change

The world's powers met in Paris for the Climate Change Conference in November of last year. Their goal was to address the climate change challenge and provide worldwide solutions.

My students and I will be tackling a simliar sort of disucssion when we return from break. We will be reading news articles and reports from the conference. Students will be responsible for researching one viable and already available solution, and presenting it to the rest of the class. Ultimately it will be up to their generation to do a large chunk of the clean-up.

I just saw this article and am very excited to share it with the kids. It is fascinating - Japanese scientists isolated a species of bacteria that was discovered living off of plastics, called PET or polyethylene terephthalte, collected from soil and wastewater. This species has to have evolved since the 1940's (when plastics were invented).

"So how do the bacteria do it? They link to the PET with tendril-like threads. They then use two enzymes sequentially to break down PET into terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol, the two substances from which it is manufactured and that are not harmful to the environment. The bacteria then digest both substances. This could mean they would be useful for getting rid of polluting plastics in the environment."

It takes a long time, but if scientists can figure out how to speed up the process, it could be a very interesting way to deal with all the plastic waste we have floating in our oceans and clogging up our landfills.

#celebratescience #coolsolutions #ididn'tknowtheycoulddothat