Done by Scientists group from Almaha Academy for boys. Under the supervision of AL-Bairaq.

1. AL-Bairaq
I am Discovering Materials
BIODEGRADABL MATERIALS
scientists
Falih Khalid AL-Thani Sultan Al Harami
Fahad Eisa AL-Maadheed Ali Al-Emadi

2. What are BIODEGRADABLE
MATERIALS?
BIODEGRADABLE
MATERIALS are
Capable of being
broken down
(decomposed)
rapidly by the
action of
microorganisms .

3. Outline
Activity 1:comparing packing materials
Activity 2:hunting for biodegradable objects
Activity 3:processing biodegradable materials
and comparing their mechanical properties
Activity 4:Measuring the degradation rates of
biodegradable materials.
Design project: Designing a medicine release
capsule
Product idea: Water Ball

4. ACTIVITY 1 :COMPARING PACKING
MATERIALS
In this experiment we want to see the difference between
biodegradable materials and non biodegradable materials
We added 2 foams one white and one green, the white degraded
but the green one didn't.
Because one was biodegradable made of corn starch the other
was from polystyrene so it didn’t degrade.

5.  we took some biodegradable foam and put it in a plastic bag we also
put some polystyrene in a plastic bag we then put an egg in both
plastic bags.
 we dropped them from a height of 2 meters when it landed the to
eggs cracked. in this experiment we found out that both materials
have the same quality of protection but you cant use biodegradable
foam to protect anything .
Part 2

6. Activity 2:hunting for
biodegradable objects
Should be reasons Should not be reasons
Car parts Lots of car
parts are
made of
plastic.
Chairs People all Was
seat on them
and they well
dissolve.
keyboards Because 80%
of computers
get thrown
away.
Bath tubs Water well
make it
dissolve.
Straws Lots of straws
are used once.
There are
more then a
billion straws
in the world.
Clothes Because when
we wash them
they well
disappear.

7. Activity 3:processing
biodegradable materials and
comparing their mechanical
properties
 In this experiment we
took three beakers and
added different
concentrations of gelatin.
The more percentage of
gelatin it contains the
less transparent it
becomes.
5%
film
10%
film
20%
gel

8. Activity 4:Measuring the degradation
rates of biodegradable materials
materials Boiling water 100c Hcl/acid NaOH
Peanut starch Time:2m50s Time:3m23s Time:3m45s
5% film Time:20m26s Time:21m28s Time:21m51s
20% film Time: more than an
hour
Time: more than an
hour
Time: more than an
hour
Gelatin capsule Time:1m43s Time:3m33s Time:5m23s
We measured the degradation rates of
different biodegradable materials
which are peanut foam, gelatin
capsule, film and gel in different
solutions which are NaOH, HCl and
Boiling water.

9. Design a project Designing a
medicine release capsule
We made medicine capsules from
sodium alginate and calcium
chloride, and then we put them
in sodium citrate to simulate its
degradation in our bodies

10. We noticed that water
bottles are one of the
biggest issues in Qatar,
everybody buys them and
we only use them once then
throw them every day.

11. Plastic waste
 Water bottles are made of plastic
which well never Degrade!
 Every water bottle ever made in
world is still here some were in the
world, they will just get more and
more until our earth well be filled
with plastic waste

12. Water balls
 To protect our plant from plastic
waste, we have a great idea to stop
one of the biggest problems which
are plastic water bottles.
 We can replace them with water
balls which is water that is trapped
in an edible ball

13. Ingredients needed
 The water ball is made of calcium lactate ,
sodium alginate and water of course ,you
drop the solution in water
 Then the balls form, put the balls in water
to stop the reaction. It's really simple and
easy.
 Did you know that it takes 17 million
barrels of oil, not including the energy for
transportation to make plastic bottles and
Bottling water produced more than 2.5
million tons of carbon dioxide and it takes 3
liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled
water.

14. Things to add
 We think that we can develop and
improve our idea, like we can add
artificial flavor to the balls so you can
enjoy eating them.
 And so you can put them in your pocket to
eat them for later we can add to them an
extra layer that you can peal and so they
stay longer.

15. Acknowledgment
Many thanks to my teachers, school and
AL-Bairaq team from Center for
Advanced Materials (CAM), Qatar
University for supporting us during our
journey with a AL-Bairaq.
Also, I would like to thank the sponsors
UNESCO, Qatar National Commission, Ras
Gas, Maersk and Shell.