The project guide starts you off with two large mixing bowls, one with regular styrofoam packing peanuts and one with starch packing peanuts. (If you don't have a way of getting bioplastic peanuts, the guide actually gives you instructions on how to make your own!)

The projects step you through examining what happens when they are exposed to water, and comparing their effectiveness as packing materials (this is the fun part where you get to drop eggs packed in the peanuts to see if they break). They even point out that bioplastic peanuts are edible!

This is a great set of projects that you can do at home, or recommend for your child's school.

Bioplastics24.com has a great article about a competition in New Zealand that gets students involved in the creative process of coming up with new products that can be made from bio-plastic.

From the main article:

"Students at Unitec's School of Design recently took up a challenge, outlined by Crown Research Institute Scion and the Designers Institute of New Zealand, of creating stylish, functional products using bioplastics derived from sustainable resources. [...]

Scion business development manager, Jeremy Warnes, says Scion was keen to get involved in a project as it focussed on the practical application of complex science.

"Everyone learns something new from this type of collaboration. We get to see how others turn our concepts into practical reality, and the students get the chance to understand the science behind the materials they are working with."