"Harvard Researchers Develop Bioplastic Made from Shrimp
Shells." Fox News. FOX News Network, 16 May 2014. Web. 21 May 2014.
<http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/05/16/harvard-researchers-develop-bioplastic-made-from-shrimp-shells/>.
For my current event I read the article “Harvard
researchers develop bioplastic made from shrimp shells,” by Fox News. This is a very interesting article which discusses
the advancements in organic technology which have been made by researchers at
Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. Basically, a team of researchers in this
department were able to create a new type of bioplastic from the substance
chitin. This is real neat because chitin
actually comes from the shells of shrimp, and it is the second most abundant
organic substance on earth, so there are no worries that we will run out of
chitin if we want to use it for more purposes in the future. The article states that “the bioplastic the lab
creates is fully biodegradable – so much so, in fact, that they were able to
grow a California Blackeye pea plant in soil enriched with its chitosan bioplastic
over a three-week period” (par. 7). This
is important because it shows that using chitin as an alternative resource won’t
hurt the environment. The researchers
hope that this discovery will allow for the production of plastic to keep
going, minus any harmful effects.
This new bioplastic has a huge impact on society
because it allows for people to keep creating plastic and other materials that usually
would harm the environment, but now instead use a biodegradable material of
which there is a high abundance. Switching
over to chitin as the primary resource for plastic and other synthetic
materials is a step in the right direction to help stop global warming.
Overall I think that this was a well written and
interesting article, and I definitely recommend it. The author does a good job of giving
information to support the claim that chitin plastics are good for the
environment, while at the same time weaving in a mixture of researchers’ quotes
and ideas which help strengthen the author’s argument. I do however wish that the author had included
a bit more on the process of creating the plastic, as it is left a bit too
vague in the article. Nonetheless, this
article conveyed an important and really interesting topic which I expect will
lead to more advancements and improvements in eco-friendly technology up the
road.
Likes
ReplyDelete- I like the way will wrote the article, it flows very well.
- I like how he wrote like he knew a lot about the topic
- I like that will chose an interesting topic
Improvements
-will could have wrote more on the bags impact on society
-he also could have written more about what exactly the chitin was
Impressing fact
-I was really amazed that shrimp have such a great material on them which can be made in to plastic bags.
3 Things I liked about the article:
ReplyDelete-I like how Will connected the discovery of chitin to daily life and how we will probably use it frequently in the future.
- I like how Will explained how the new bioplastic can be used and its benefits, such as slowing down global warming and not interfereing with the growth of plants.
- Will's intrest in this topic helped him write a orderly and intresting article.
Improvements:
- Will could have chosen a longer article to give him more material to work with, however the video helped give more information too.
- Will left certain details somewhat vague, such as why chitin is so storng, or any information on how to create chitin.
Impressing fact
- I find the fact that modern technology can turn shrimp shells into a very useful plastic is amazingly cool. I never would have thought to look into something as basic as shrimp shells to find such useful knowledge.
I read Will Vranka’s article report, “Harvard researchers develop bioplastic made from shrimp shells”. I think he did a really good job summarizing this article in a thoughtful way. One thing that he did well which stood out to me was how he explained and defined all the terms the reader might not understand, such as chitin and bioplastic. I was also impressed by how he was able to include an actual quote from the article, in a way where it was not just a random statement, but related to what he was talking about. His summary was also, overall, written clearly and fluidly.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it was a very good review, I think that Will could have made a few improvements. For one, I think he could have been more specific about what the impact is on society, and how it will affect our lives. He said it briefly, but could have given us a few specifics. I would also recommend that will maybe explain the characteristics of chitin and why it is suitable as a plastic.
The idea that we may have access to an endless supply of plastic that is safe for environment is really cool. I never would have thought that we would find a material that could be made into a form of plastic that is eco-friendly and organic.
I thought that you were able to explain a difficult topic in a very simple and basic way. This allowed me to understand more about a topic that I was not at all familiar about. Also, by putting the quotes you did helped me get immersed in the topic. Furthermore, you had a very organized way of telling about your topic that also helped me fully understand what you were writing about. In addition, I thought that you did a good job on really explaining what chitin was, it made it seem like you knew a lot about this topic.
ReplyDeleteHowever, you could have explained more on how this new technology impacts our lives and the Earth. I though you were a bit too brief on that part of the current event. Moreover, you could have giving more examples on how chitin is good and safe for the environment.
Finally, this review was very interesting to read because I had never heard about chitin and was very impressed of the technology advances we have made. On top of that I had never thought that something that came from shrimps, would be the second most abundant organic substance on Earth.
I thought that the article that Will wrote a current events on was very interesting. His current event report was well written for a hard topic. I liked how he used examples from the text or the article so he could make his response more detailed and more deeply explained as well as easier to understand. He wrote about the topic as if he was talking to the reader like they were in front of him listening which made me more engaged. Even though I like his current events, I believe that some things could have been better explained or could have been defined. I think that Will could have told us in advance what the Chitin was. I was a little confused at first about it when I first saw the word but after reading a little bit more, I understood. I also think that the article could have said more on how these plastic bags are impacting society in a good way. He could have done a little more research on how the plastic has impacted global warming as well so his paragraph on impact on society could be more in depth and we could have a better understanding (and see how chitin is better). I also wish he had explained more on biodegradable material and it’s impact on society. Something that really surprised me is the use of chitin from shrimp shell to make the plastic. I thought that that was really surprising and cool. I always though that plastic was harming the environment but now I know that we can start helping the environment by making plastic bags with chitin and it can help the environment.
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