Biodegradable Packaging - Urgent Help Needed !!

[maggib]

My daughter has decided to do the Biodegradable project
Reference: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... -packaging

she wants to however do a variation where she wants to create biodegradable packaging with seaweed, mushroom and the one with hydrogels (talked about in the experiment link above) and then compare them to see which one is good for fragile items ( like the one in the experiemnt ) but also find out which ones are more water absorbent packaging.
couple of questions
1. How to create seaweed packaging at home ?
2. we have ordered mushroom kits from the GrowKit, but how do we control the thickness of that to make it the same as the other 2 ?
3. How do we conclude the experiment - wrapping egg in each of these packaging and then dropping it to see which one is the most effective for fragile ?
4. How we determine usability when it comes to water resistant
5. Any other modifications/ extensions to this experiment so that we can determine usability or better biodegradable packaging?

Urgent help cause I want to make sure a) that our scope is narrowed down b) am able to procure all materials required for this !

[csmccann]

Hello Maggib,
Sound like a very cool project! I would recommend for question 2 not worrying so much on the thickness of the mushroom but focusing on the weight in grams. You can trim the mushrooms to try and make it slimmer but the weight is the most important factor.
3. Yes that's a great way to conclude an experiment if your testing for which one will supply the most cushion to the egg.
4. I put each box into a bucket of water a test how much water made it inside, you could also test a regular cardboard box
5. Your Daughters experiment sounds great I don't think anyother changes need to be made.