The Use of the Terms, Vinyl and Plastic, in the Texts and the proposal From the environmental education point of view.

Abstract

Today, a highly polymerized synthetic compound is one of the essential materials in our everyday life. Though it is very useful, it should be disposed of after the use. We have few opportunities to look into the terms vinyl and plastic, which denote a highly polymerized synthetic compounds, however, they are frequently used. The terms used in school education should be universal and make sense in everyday life. I examined the terms which are employed in elementary, junior and high school texts, considering their use on the basis of the meaning given high school chemistry text and dictionary. The results show that "vinyl"is used in the text as a soft highly polymerized synthetic compound while "plastic"denotes a hard one. These show different meanings from their original ones. In this paper, I will propose that the term "plastic" should be used in the text in stead of "vinyl"and that it is best for the pupils to study original meaning from the beginning in elementary schools.