Plastic: Problem or Progress?

Primary SchoolAdvancedDiscursive Writing

The Prompt

Imagine a world without plastic – could you? From your toothbrush to your favourite toy, plastic is everywhere! But is it a superhero that makes our lives easier, or a super-villain harming our planet?

Your task is to write a balanced piece of writing, like a debate on paper, exploring both sides of the 'plastic story'. We want you to be like a detective, investigating all the different angles.

Think about:

Why did plastic become so popular? What makes it so useful and cheap? (e.g., it's light, strong, can be shaped easily, keeps things clean).
What are its amazing benefits? How has it helped us in hospitals, with transport, or keeping our food safe and fresh?
What are the big problems plastic causes? Think about pollution in oceans, harm to animals, and how long it takes to break down in landfills.
What can we do about it? Suggest ideas for reducing, reusing, recycling, or even new inventions that could help. What changes can people make?

Remember to show both the 'good' and 'bad' sides of plastic before sharing your thoughts on what we can do to make things better. Make your writing clear, interesting, and full of your own ideas!

💡 Writing Tips

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Brainstorm: Make a list of all the good things plastic does and all the bad things it causes.
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Structure: Plan your writing with an introduction, a section for benefits, a section for problems, and a conclusion with solutions.
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Use linking words: Words like 'however', 'on the other hand', 'because', and 'therefore' will help connect your ideas.
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Give examples: When you talk about benefits or problems, try to give a real-life example (e.g., plastic keeping food fresh, or plastic bags in the ocean).
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Think about solutions: What can people do to help? Think about 'reduce, reuse, recycle' and other new ideas.

📝 Sample Answer

Plastic is an amazing material that we see every day, from our lunchboxes to the packaging around our new toys. It became super popular because it's cheap to make, strong, and doesn't break easily. For example, plastic helps doctors with clean equipment and keeps our food fresh for longer, stopping waste. It's also light, which is great for making cars and planes more fuel-efficient, and it can be used to create exciting new inventions. However, plastic also causes huge problems. Loads of it ends up in our oceans, harming sea creatures like turtles and dolphins who mistake it for food. It takes hundreds of years to disappear, building up in landfills and polluting our beautiful planet. This 'forever' plastic is a big worry for the future, and we can see plastic litter almost everywhere we look. So, what can we do? We can all try to reduce how much plastic we use, like bringing reusable water bottles and shopping bags, and choosing products with less packaging. We can also try to reuse plastic containers for other things and make sure we recycle properly. Scientists are also working hard on new types of plastic that break down more easily. By making small changes, we can help turn plastic from a problem into progress for our planet.

Did You Know?

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