Non-ferrous metals like aluminum, copper, lead, nickel, tin, and zinc are especially valuable to recycle. They are among the few materials that do not degrade during the recycling process. Aluminum cans are used all over the country. In the United States, approximately $28 billion worth of non‑ferrous metals are recycled annually. ReMA estimates that recycling aluminum saves up to 95% of the energy required to produce it from raw materials. If all the aluminum scrap that we recycle were made into cans, they would stretch from Earth to Venus! Recycling saves enormous amounts of energy— the equivalent of 25 million barrels of gasoline a year. In this activity, you will explore the multiple steps involved in producing a can from raw ore.

Materials:

• Device with internet access
• Supporting Material - Student Activity Pages: Can It!
• Calculator

Safety Notes:

• When using technology, engage in safe, legal, and ethical behavior; this applies to devices (hardware), application or programs (software), and interactions with others.
• There are no anticipated physical safety risks associated with this Activity.

Investigate Aluminum

Use Supporting Material - Student Activity Pages: Can It! to guide your research. Follow your teacher's directions as you explore the materials they have shared with you. 

• Using the internet and other resources to find out where aluminum comes from. What is the name of the ore?
• Where is this ore mined? Find at least four areas of the world and label these areas on the world map. 
• Estimate the distance that the ore must be transported to reach your home state from each of the locations you have identified.
• Find out if aluminum is magnetic or not! 
• Can you determine which of the cans you observed at the beginning of the lab was made from aluminum? What kinds of products are often stored in aluminum, and why?

Web Quest: Create a Flowchart for the Creation of a Soda Can!

Continue to use Supporting Material - Student Activity Pages: Can It! to guide your research.

Did you Know?

There are five major steps in the process of making a soda can. From mining to transportation, describe each step listed in the flowchart on the student data sheet, defining the process. Include information about any impacts to the environment or other interesting pieces of information you feel are worth noting.

Let's Estimate

It would be impossible to calculate all the costs (in money, energy, and to the environment) to make a can. But we can estimate. As you research the steps involved in making a soda can, find out at least one fact that can help you estimate what it takes to make it happen. What’s involved? What does it cost?

Table 1: Flowchart Table
The image below is also in your student activity pages.
Complete this table, describing each step listed in the flowchart. Include information about potential cost if possible, and any impacts to the environment or other interesting pieces of information you feel are worth noting. Include your sources of information. 

Reflect and Apply:

Aluminum is one of the easiest and most valuable products that consumers can recycle. While it’s easy to argue that recycling aluminum cans is important, people sometimes forget or get lazy! Different cities and states have different ways to motivate can recycling, ranging from education, incentives, limits on the volume of household waste and can deposits.

Imagine that your community will establish a new program to recycle cans. At a large meeting, four options for the system are discussed.

Look at the recycling incentives below.

Choose what you think is the best option.

Develop an argument and support your choice with evidence. Which option would you choose not to support? Why? Record your thinking digitally or in a notebook. 

Extension:

Compare the thickness of various cans in the supermarket. Today’s aluminum can is somewhat thinner than those manufactured in the past. Conduct an investigation and find out why! Investigate the coatings used inside some cans that are used to store highly acidic foods. What do you notice and why do you think this is?

Journal Question

Now that you have learned more about the costs and energy needed to produce a can from raw ore deposits, do you think it is an effective way to package food? Why or why not?

What other options are available? Why do you think that these options might be better or worse?

Additional Resources to Explore:

• Web Link - How Aluminum Works