NCERT 6th Class (CBSE) Science: Garbage In, Garbage Out

Question: (1) What do you do with the left over food at home?
(2) If you and your friends are given the choice of eating in a plastic plate or a banana leaf plotter at a party, which one would you prefer and why?

Answer:

1. Left over food at home along with other kitchen waste like vegetable peel, paper are dumped into compost pit to convert them into manure. Later on manure is used to grow plants.
2. We will select banana leaf platter because it can be easily converted into manure by composting. Plastic plate can be recycled but in this process it gives out harmful gases which pollute the environment. Plastic items cannot be converted into manure by composting.

Question: (a) Collect pieces of different kinds of paper. Find out which of these can be recycled,
(b) With the help of a lens look at the pieces of paper you collected for the above question. Do you see any difference in the material of recycled paper and a new sheet of paper?

Answer:

(a) Pieces of papers obtained from newspaper, notebooks, magazines, etc. can be recycled. Plastic coated and shiny papers cannot be recycled easily.

(b) The surface of recycled paper is rough whereas surface of new sheet of paper is smooth.

Question: (1) Collect different kinds of packaging material. What was the purpose for which each one mas used? Discuss in groups.
(2) Give an example in which packaging could have been reduced.
(3) Write a story on how packaging increases the amount of garbage.

Answer:

1. Packaging materials like thermocole, foam sheets, paper cuttings, card board, jute are used to protect the articles.Card boxes, plastic containers and tin containers are used to facilitate transportation of the packed materials.
2. Packaging of toys, clothes, shoes, chocolates can be reduced.
3. We use packaging materials to protect the articles and also to make package good- looking. For example, to give a gift on birthday, the gift is packed and wrapped in a shiny paper or plastic-coated paper. After use the packing material is thrown in dustbin. Similarly, plastic bags, cans, aluminium foils, plastic or aluminium cans and other packaging materials are used and thrown out after use.

Many things such as ghee, refined oil, soaps, detergents and most of eatable goods are sold in small packets.
All the above said measures can help in reducing the amount of garbage due to packing.