Done by luxury group,Umm Hakeem Secondary School.We use palm leaves for packaging fruits and vegetables. It’s.It’s good for the environment and it connects us with our country’s old heritage.

1. I am discovering materials-Cycle 7
Food Packaging
Protective Palm Leaves
Umm Hakeem Secondary School
Luxury Group
Reem al Maadeed Fatma al Maadeed
Shaikha al Abdulamlik Hana Suhail
Al-Bairaq

2. OUTLINE
• Introduction
• Activity 1: Investigating food Packaging
• Activity 2: Analyzing Food packaging materials
• Activity 3: Evaluating the impact of food packaging on the
environment
• Activity 4: Researching food packaging materials
• Activity 5: Designing a protective package.
• Activity 6: Comparing the insulating properties of
packaging materials
• Design Project
• Product Idea

3. It’s really simple, entertaining and educational at the
same time.
We did several experiments that were divided into 4
days, we found out the uses of various materials used
in food packaging and applied physical experiments
on them to answer the questions that wondered in
our minds when we started.
Our experience
(a summary)

4.  In this activity we cut a microwave pop-corn bag to
find out what it’s made of and how it works.
 We examined the package and identified the parts of
the package and the purpose of each part.
Activity 1
Investigating Food Packaging

5.  In the middle we saw a small sheet of metal which
turned out to be aluminum, that specific sheet of
metal is called a susceptor patch.
 The susceptor patch focuses microwaves in one area
which makes the patch hot enough to pop the
kernels.
Activity 1
Investigating Food Packaging

6. Activity 2
Analyzing Food Packaging materials
In this activity we looked at different types of food
packaging and decided what are the purposes of these
packages used for and identified the types of materials
used in them.

7. Type of
food
package
Description of
package
Purpose of
package
Materials used in
package
Purpose of each
material
Biscuit
Bag
Lightweight,
opaque, recyclable
inexpensive
To keep from
spoiling and
breaking
Aluminum Preserve and
Protect
Water
Bottle
Light weight, cheap,
recyclable, water
proof, can withstand
high temp. easy to
stack
Keep water in Plastic It has high
resistance against
added chemicals
Milk
Carton
Strong, liquid proof,
can be printed on,
good insulator,
opaque, cheap
Keep milk in
room temp.
keep it from
spoiling
Carton, Aluminum Protect it
Activity 2
Analyzing Food Packaging materials

8.  We examined different types of packaging and
determined the mass of the packaging and the food
separately.
 Then we went find out if the packaging is efficient or
not simply by dividing the packaging mass by the
product mass.
Activity 3
Evaluating the impact of Food packaging on
the Environment
Packaging mass(g)
______________ =
Product mass (g)
0.62 g
_____ = 1.02 a lower number means it isn’t
122.8 g

9. Activity 4
Researching Food Packaging Materials

10.  We compared the ability of different packaging
materials to protect the tomato .
 One tomato was put in a plastic bag unprotected,
another we packaged with sheet paper and put it in
the plastic bag, we will test its protection by dropping
it from different heights.
Activity 5
Designing a protective package

11. Description of
tomato and
package
100 cm 200 cm 300 cm 400 cm 500 cm 600 cm
Experimental No
effect
- Became
more
tender
Got a
crack in
the
middle
Became
a bit
bruised
No more
Control No
Effect
Bruised
Activity 5
Designing a Protective Package

12.  In this last activity we compared the insulating
properties of wrapped and non wrapped hot water in a
paper cup.
Activity 6
Comparing the insulating properties
of packaging materials

13. Time With wrap Without Wrap
Minutes Experimental Control
0 68.7 ℃ 50℃
1 60.0℃ 56℃
2 59.8℃ 55.1℃
3 58.9℃ 54.1℃
4 58.2℃ 53.2℃
5 57.2℃ 52.2℃
6 56.5℃ 51℃
7 55.8℃ 50.4℃
8 55.2℃ 49.8℃
9 54.5℃ 49℃
10 53.9℃ 48.4℃
Activity 6Comparing the insulating
properties of packaging materials

14.  Our goal is to design a product that will not spoil nor ruin
the insides.
 We came up with several ideas and conducted
experiments, we luckily found the right idea with the
perfect experiment and made a prototype of it.
 We made two proto types, we left one opened to air and
the other in a cool fridge.
 The results were very promising, the insides were not
spoiled and the outsides remained un-ruined.
 To conclude, we had a successful design project.
Design Project

15. As you know, fruits and vegetables are open to everyone and
thing in the market and any fly can land its icky feet on it and
any person can touch it with unhygienic hands.
So we came up with an environmental way to wrap a specific
fruit like an apple without completely hiding it using palm tree
leaves.
This is very important because palm tree leaves are usually
made into baskets or fans, the use of palm tree leaves in Qatar
has been around for many years and we would like to keep on
the tradition.
Our Product Idea:
Protective Palm Leaves

16.  What is it?
 It is cut palm leaves from the roots, it’s long, thick and
cannot be harmed.
 How does it work?
 It protects what we wrap it on, it may seem
unorthodox because it usually is used for fans and
baskets.
 Why is it useful?
 It does not need any chemicals nor added materials
Protective Palm Leaves

17. We came with an idea when we saw a palm tree outside in the garden.
50 cut leaves later we were ready to create, at first we were clueless on
how we were going to protect the apple.
we decided to make it very simple by just grouping all the leaves together,
opening them wide and inserting the apple in the middle and just closing it
and to ensure it’s sealed we wrapped a green string made of plastic around
the edges and cut the excess leaves.
We learned that you can’t use just one material, you need more than one
hand to complete a project, you need more than one material to ensure the
safeness of a product.
Luckily Engineer Marwa and Dana were with us from the beginning and
guided us when we needed the help, they didn’t lack any patience and gave
us very helpful ideas on how to make it better.
Protective Palm Leaves

18.  It is completely safe and it is a perfectly cheap yet environmental
way to keep fruits and vegetables from spoiling, we took out both
apples and compared them.
 The one in room temperature came out dry and with an odor
while the other came out perfectly fine and not spoiled what so
ever.
Protective Palm Leaves
Results: (‫)النتائج‬

19.  We think there are more ways we could use tree
leaves in the food packaging industry, sadly we are
limited in materials thus we couldn’t explore further.
 We did face an obstacle, luckily we overcame it, it was
how to make the palm leaves stick to each other, we
solved it by wrapping a plastic string over it making
sure it’s sealed.
 We advise that if it is developed in a factory, they
should add colors to it, for traditions sake.
Protective Palm Leaves
Recommendations:

20. It had been a very educational week, it was refreshing
from the usual knowledge , we learned so many new
things that we can use to improve our planet, better
resources, new ways to save money and we
discovered materials we hardly knew existed while
they were merely hiding under our noses.
Too sum it up in one word, it would be;
Unforgettable.
Conclusions
(Overall)

21. We would like to thank our very supportive parents,
helpful friends and especially AL-Bairaq team for not
hesitating to correct us and guide us through the whole
thing.
And I would like to thank the sponsors for giving us this
marvelous unforgettable opportunity.
Acknowledgment