Part 2: Product & Experimental Design - Are Mushrooms the New Styrofoam?
Teacher Prep before Day 1:
Important Note: Teachers will need to purchase Grow-It-Yourself materials from the Ecovative Design website and activate the materials for student use: https://grow.bio/collections/shop/products/grow-it-yourself-material
- Kits come with instructions. Materials need to be re-activated, fabricated, grown, and dried, requiring a total of 11 to 13 days until products are ready to be tested, according to the timeline by location.
- Teacher will activate the materials before project begins (follow instructions in kit, process takes 5 days for pre-molding growth)
- Students create the molds, then they will sit and grow for 6-7 days
- Remove from molds and dry for 1-2 days, then bake for 30 minutes
Although the Project Calendar below includes 20 days for this project, you will notice that there will be numerous free days for other classwork while the mycelium grows and dries.
The following videos will set the stage for Part 2 of this PBL. The teacher will decide which video or video segments would be most effective with your students to teach them about Cradle-to-Cradle design and sbout the work of Evocative.
https://www.ted.com/speakers/william_mcdonough
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP8PRA-OajU
https://www.ted.com/speakers/eben_bayer
The teacher will also want to explore the Ecovative website for in-depth information about the process and the current collaborative projects:
NGSS Standards Met:
- HS-ETS1-1: Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.
- HS-ETS1-3: Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.
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Days 1-2
These two days will provide background on Cradle-to-Cradle Design and on Ecovative, a company that uses mushroom materials as a polystyrene (styrofoam) alternative. It will be up to the teacher to select videos to provide this background, and students are expected to take notes. A teacher will also want to refer back to and review the Lifecycle Analysis slideshow PPT from Green Chemistry Part 1, demonstrating the differences between closed-loop mushroom materials and open-loop traditional petroleum-based polystyrene. Students should use Worksheet below to take notes on information presented in the slideshow. Once this background is presented, the teacher will guide students in small- or whole-group discussions to compare and contrast these two alternatives.
There should be time during this 2- day period to introduce the upcoming project to students and answer their questions. It will also be important to re-introduce the project’s Driving Question: “How can we become a sustainable community through the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry?” and connect it to this new project. Read information on Driving Question here in BLOSSOMS Project-Based Learning Tools resource. Next it will be time to divide the class into project teams of four. For help on setting up these teams, read about Grouping Teams in the PBL Tools resource. Distribute homework articles.
- Introduction to Lifecycle Analysis (PDF format, PPT format)
- Student Lifecycle Worksheet Document (PDF format, Word format)
- Homework articles for Day 2 (PDF format of first aricle, PDF format of second article)
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Day 3
After a brief full-class discussion of the homework article, the new student teams will spend some time today working on their Team Contracts, which are documents that state what teams will agree to and what will happen if they do not keep to these statements. Read more about the Team Contracts, and find the Student Contract Handout below. Be sure to check out other PBL Tools here to see if there are any tools you would like to use with your students. Then student teams will begin to conduct online research to learn more about the pros & cons of polystyrene, to identify uses for polystyrene products and to start discussing which type of product they will select to mold as a mushroom-based alternative. Students may use the Product Design Handout to guide their decision on what type of product they will engineer. While doing this research, students may also want to identify stakeholders in their school or community that use styrofoam, since those stakeholders may be interested in the results of their experiments. Interested stakeholders should be invited to the Project's Final event.Team members will continue their research for homework.
- Product Design: Are Mushrooms the New Styrofoam? (PDF format, Word format)
- Product Design: Are Mushrooms the New Styrofoam? (Teacher Answer Key) (PDF format, Word format)
- Team Contract (PDF format)
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Day 4
Student teams will continue their online research to identify uses for polystyrene products. It is expected that by today they will reach a decision on what type of product they want to engineer/mold for their project and test against a traditional polystyrene product. In conducting this research and arriving at a mutually agreed upon product, they can use the Product Design Handout to guide their discussion on what type of product they will engineer and mold. Note: This lesson is written so that student teams will select their own polystyrene product to study and test. However, if so desired, the teacher could assign the selection of a polystyrene product, or the entire class could research the same product. Today you will also want to introduce the Reflective Learning Journal, which each student will be required to complete and hand in every week during the project.
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Day 5
Student teams will develop an Experimental Design to use when it is time to test their mushroom-based product against a traditional polystyrene product. They will need to think carefully about what material properties of the product will be important to test - that is, what qualities are essential for this particular product to be effective in its use. They will also need to decide how best to test and evaluate those qualities in their product as compared to in a polystyrene product. They can use the Experimental Design Handout to guide this process. See notes for teachers in the Teacher Answer Key document. Student teams should also refer to the Assessment Issues Handout. After working with their teams, each team should report on their work to the whole class.
- Student Handout Experimental Design: Are Mushrooms the New Styrofoam? (PDF format, Word format)
- Experimental Design: Are Mushrooms the New Styrofoam? Teacher Answer Key (PDF format, Word format)
- What Assessment Issues to Keep in Mind As You Develop Your Experimental Protocol (PDF format, Word format)
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Day 6
Student teams use Grow-It-Yourself materials from Evocative, already activated by the teacher, to mold their mushroom-based products. Follow instructions for creating and growing molds on the package.
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Days 6-12
Mycelium growth occurs in molds. Student teams may check on a daily basis, if desired. During this period, it would be good to show students these videos that demonstrate mycelium growth in a time lapse:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6JRjVBYijs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqIygiViJRw
Also on one or two class days while waiting for the molded product to grow, student teams should learn how to create a simple flowchart that will help them plan the steps involved during their product testing phase. (Refer to: Flowchart Resource Handout and the Simple Flowchart Example below.) This time period will provide an excellent opportunity for Student Teams to learn about flowcharts and to share their knowledge in a whole class discussion. Research on flowcharts should be assigned as homework, with flowchart design done during a class period. Teams can design and draw their own flowcharts for product testing, or if able, they can use an online tool.
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Days 13-15
Molded product growth should be completed. The mycelium-based products now require two days for drying, and lastly, one day for baking before removing engineered product from mold. During this time, Student Teams will be expected to fine-tune their Experimental Design, to plan what numerical data they will collect and to determine how they will analyze that data. Students can consult the Analyzing Data Handout. After working with their teams on this, each team should report on their work to the whole class. Homework handout will prepare students for testing their products.
- Analyzing Data from Your Experiment: Some Things to Remember (PDF format, Word format)
- Homework Handout: Five Things to Remember Before Testing Your Product (PDF format, Word format)
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Day 16
Finally the day for testing! Following their experimental protocol, student teams will test how well their Mycelium-based product stands up against the polystyrene product. They will need to test a minimum of three essential material properties of the two products - properties required for the products to be successful in their use. Data from the testing will be added to the flowchart. Some teams may need more than one day for testing.
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Day 17
Students will analyze data by first organizing it into data tables. Depending on the test conducted, students, might complete calculations, create graphs, etc. Students should be sure to make comparisons of the efficacy of both Ecovative mycelium fabricated products and traditional polystyrene. Students can refer to the Analyzing Data from Your Experiment document as they work on this.
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Days 18-20
Student Teams will work on preparing the final presentation of their experiment. We recommend that they prepare a poster or slideshow exhibit of their research findings, each to be accompanied by an oral presentation.
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Day 21
This will be the Final Event of the project. It is hoped that this can be a school-wide, public event with appropriate members of the community in attendance, including those stakeholders who have an interest in moving away from using Styrofoam. Read more about the significance of the PBL Final Event.
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