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Year 9

Advantages and disadvantages of plastic food packaging

I can describe advantages and disadvantages of plastic food packaging.

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New
New
Year 9

Advantages and disadvantages of plastic food packaging

I can describe advantages and disadvantages of plastic food packaging.

Link copied to clipboard

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Many foods are sold packaged in plastic, which is usually made from non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels
  2. Plastic waste in landfills and oceans is a pollutant that takes a long time to degrade and can harm organisms
  3. Biodegradable bioplastics made from renewable resources are a sustainable alternative to traditional plastic packaging
  4. Plastic packaging helps prevents food spoilage and reduces food waste
  5. We must weigh up the benefits of using plastic packaging against emissions from production and damage to biodiversity

Keywords

  • Plastic - a man-made material, usually made from fossil fuels

  • Pollutant - a substance that can harm living organisms when it is released into an ecosystem

  • Biodiversity - the range of different living organisms (species) in an ecosystem

  • Biodegradable - can be broken down by living organisms, including microorganisms

  • Sustainable - can be carried out over a long period of time with little or no negative impact on the environment

Common misconception

Thinking that plastic food packaging only has disadvantages, due to its effects as a pollutant in oceans and land ecosystems.

This lesson explores the advantages of plastic packaging in reducing food waste, alongside the risks it can pose to biodiversity.


To help you plan your year 9 science lesson on: Advantages and disadvantages of plastic food packaging, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Pupils may not feel they have much agency in being able to reduce the use and impacts of plastic food packaging. This issue is addressed in Task B.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these is not an example of a fossil fuel?
coal
gas
oil
Correct answer: wood
Q2.
What is a pollutant?
A material made by plants.
A natural resource that we obtain from an ecosystem.
Correct answer: A substance that can harm living things when it is released into an ecosystem.
A substance this is found naturally in ecosystems.
Q3.
An activity is sustainable if …
… it takes a long time to complete it.
Correct answer: … it can be carried out without harming the environment.
…. it harms the environment but does not take a long time to complete.
Q4.
According to the bar chart, which food has the lowest carbon footprint of greenhouse gas emissions?
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: apples, apple
Q5.
According to the bar chart, which stage of producing chocolate contributes the most emissions to chocolate’s carbon footprint?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: Land use change
Farming
Processing
Transport
Packaging
Q6.
The word means the range of different species living in a place.
Correct Answer: biodiversity
Q1 image 3 IhorL/Shutterstock.com Q4 Greenhouse gas emissions across the supply chain, adapted from original (https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local), Hannah Ritchie , 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=114706754 Q5 Greenhouse gas emissions across the supply chain, adapted from original (https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local), Hannah Ritchie , 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=114706754

6 Questions

Q1.
Match each word to its correct definition.
Correct Answer:biodiversity,the range of different species in an ecosystem

the range of different species in an ecosystem

Correct Answer:pollutant,a substance that can harm organisms when released into an ecosystem

a substance that can harm organisms when released into an ecosystem

Correct Answer:sustainable,can be carried out without harming the environment

can be carried out without harming the environment

Q2.
True or false? A biodegradable material can be broken down by living organisms e.g. bacteria
Correct answer: True
False
Q3.
Which of these types of food packaging is biodegradable?
Correct answer: Cardboard made from trees
Glass made from minerals
Metal made from minerals
Plastic made from fossil fuels
Q4.
What can biodegradable bioplastic be made from?
Carboard coated with regular plastic
Fossil fuels
Recycled regular plastic
Correct answer: Starch from crop plants
Q5.
Who identifies how plastic food packaging can help to limit climate change?
Jun: It is made from fossil fuels so causes few emissions.
Correct answer: Izzy: It helps to reduce food waste.
Sam: It makes things taste nicer.
Jacob: It can harm biodiversity when it pollutes ecosystems.
Q6.
True or false? Eating fruit and vegetables instead of meat will reduce emissions more than buying food without plastic packaging.
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: True
False
Q6 Greenhouse gas emissions across the supply chain, adapted from original (https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local), Hannah Ritchie , 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=114706754