Eastern Intermediate High School
Honors Biology
Name: __________________________
Mod: ___________ Date:____________
Unit 16 – Human Impact on the Biosphere
Lab - A Matter of Trash
INTRODUCTION
Think about your school as a community: the organization and interaction of people, books, paper,
furniture, and food. People move through the hallways in repeated patterns throughout the day; books and
papers are moved from lockers, to class, and back to lockers; desks are rearranged to accommodate various
activities and events; and food is moved from the kitchen, to lunch trays, to hungry students.
In much the same way as these things move through the organized community of your school, energy
and matter move through organized communities of living organisms of all sizes. In Biology we speak of a
community as the group of living organisms that live and interact with each other in a specific area. An
ecosystem is a community of organisms interacting with their environment.
You probably have chores around your home. Washing dishes, mowing the lawn, feeding pets, babysitting for a younger brother or sister, and taking out the trash are activities that might be you responsibility.
Do you remember the last time you took out the trash? Did you notice the contents of what you were about
to throw away? Where did the trash go after you put it out on the curb or tossed into a Dumpster? What
happened to the matter in the material you just discarded? Was any energy stored in that matter? Where did
that energy go? This activity will engage you in thinking about various forms of matter that you may consider
to be waste and about what happens to this matter after you throw it out.
BACKGROUND
A natural resource that can be used to benefit people and can then be replaced for other people to
enjoy is called a renewable resource. A resource that is in limited supply and cannot be replaced once it
has been extracted and used is called a non-renewable resource. The difference between the two kinds of
natural resources has a lot to do with where they're from!
For example, your shirt and jeans are probably made from cotton -- which comes from a plant.
Farmers harvest the cotton crop every year, but the plants grow back and produce more cotton. Cotton and
all growing plants and trees are renewable resources. Young saplings grown in nurseries can be replanted to
grow a new forest. Also, a forest can grow from natural regeneration of the seeds to new trees. These
forests are managed on a sustained-yield basis to make sure that the trees are not cut down at a rate faster
than new ones are growing so that there will be a stable long term supply.
Non-renewable resources are things that are taken from the Earth, such as petroleum, coal and metals.
These resources were created many millions of years ago, when the Earth was forming. Once they are taken
out of the ground, they are not replaced. Since there is only so much oil, and the earth cannot replace the oil
that is pumped out, we will eventually run out of this non-renewable resource.
Some non-renewable resources are recyclable in that they can be recovered from their prior use to be
used again. A good example of this would be aluminum from aluminum cans, old cars or other products. Many
types of plastic (made from petroleum oil) are also recyclable. Today more and more products are being
produced from recycled raw materials recovered from the old used things. Even old computers now get
broken down into parts and many parts are recycled.
Different types of garbage have different fates. There are three possible destinations for your trash:
1. Landfill:
 Carefully designed structure built into or on top of the ground in which trash is isolated
from groundwater, will be kept dry and will not be in contact with air.
 This isolation is accomplished with a plastic bottom liner and daily covering of soil.
 Under these conditions, trash will not decompose very much.
2. Recycling:
 The process by which materials are collected and used as "raw" materials for new products.
 WHAT IS RECYCLABLE
GLASS
Only food or beverage jars/bottles of a clear, amber or
green color. The lids of these containers are not
recycled. Place the lids in your regular trash.
CANS
Aluminum food / beverage containers (soda, beer,
vegetable, coffee, soup, pet, etc.)
PLASTICS
PAPER

Milk, water, soda, cooking/salad oil, detergent, shampoo,
bleach bottles etc. Any container that has a #1 or a #2 in
the recycling icon that is usually found on the bottom of
the container.
Newspapers, magazines, junk mail, pizza boxes, cereal
boxes, wrapping paper, milk cartons, juice cartons,
cardboard (free from debris), shredded paper (placed in
a paper bag)
WHAT IS NOT RECYCLABLE
GLASS
CANS
PLASTICS
OTHER
PLEASE
NOTE
Ceramic items (cups, plates, etc.), broken glass, plate
glass, light bulbs, mirrors, drinking glasses and vases.
Aerosol cans, hangers, aluminum foil, aluminum dishes,
pots, pans and household scrap metal.
Plastic bags, gardening pots and baskets and any
container with a #3 or greater number inside the
recycling icon, which is usually found on the bottom of
the container.
Syringes, buckets, antifreeze bottles, used motor oil
containers, diapers, paint, styrofoam, or microwave
dishes.
Contaminating your glass/cans/plastics/paper
recycling container with the non-recyclable items
listed above limits the township's ability to look for
disposal companies with the lowest cost per ton.
3. Compost:
 Replicates nature's natural system of breaking down materials on the forest floor.
 Almost any organic material is suitable for a compost pile.
 The purpose is to store trash in such a way that it will decompose quickly.
PROCEDURE
Complete the attached trash data table:
1) Column I- Trash Item- Brainstorm with your partners to identify 15 more items that you would
consider trash and need to be disposed
2) Column II- Source/ Origin- What is the item made from? If you’re not sure, use the internet.
1. (ex. The Text Book is made of paper which comes from a tree)
3) Column III- Renewable/ Non-renewable- place a “R” or
“NR” in the column
1. (ex. Book- renewable- can grow trees for more paper)
4) Column IV- Do you have this item in your own trash at home?- yes or no
5) Column V- fate- where does this type of trash end up? Landfill/ Recycled/ Compost
*Use the the background information to help fill in your data table.
Data Table
Trash
Item
1. Newspapers
Source/
Origin
(paper is made from trees)
Fate
R/NR
(Landfill,
Compost,
Recycling)
In a perfect world
where should the
items end up?
R
Recycling
Recycling
NR
Landfill
Recycling
Trees
Petroleum
2. Plastic bags
(Plastics come from fossil
fuels)
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
ANALYSIS Answer in complete sentences.
1. What are some disadvantages to having a compost pile in your yard?
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2. What is the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources?
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3. Where is the majority of the trash examined in this lab stored?
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4. How do landfills affect the biogeochemical cycling in the biosphere? (Hint: Examine the
carbon, nitrogen, water and phosphorous cycles)
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5. In what ways might the waste of one organism be useful to another organism? Give
examples to support your answer.
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6. In the future, how can your community help reduce the amount of waste that is sent to
landfills?
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