The Future of Education

Today, where industrial waste is constantly increasing and causing many destructive changes in the ecosystem, it is substantial to minimize the detrimental effects of these wastes before they cause irreversible changes. Although some waste products cannot be recycled, many of them can be reprocessed and used in other industries for different purposes. Animal remnants abundant in favorable molecules, such as turkey feathers are a relevant example for this case. Turkey feathers take a long time to degrade in the environment, and possess a biohazard quality as they need to be burned or buried for disposal. However, the high amount of protein stored in these feathers is extremely valuable for industries such as medicine and cosmetics. In order to search for methods, observe, and test out the process and practicality of turkey feathers for their use in other areas, we, as 11th grade AP Chemistry students, conducted an investigation aimed to extract keratin protein from turkey feathers. The investigation was carried out in four steps: dissolving, protein precipitation, protein purification, and testing. Beer Lambert’s Law was used to interpret our data. A biuret test was utilized to measure the concentration of proteins in different agents. Later the concentration was evaluated in terms of molars. All these processes helped us better understand AP Chemistry topics like absorption and molarity, and shown how they apply in lab conditions. Understanding the role of turkey feathers is critical in evaluating their contribution, and minimizing their pernicious effects on the environment. Though some wastes small in role seem harmless, it is crucial to note that all wastes, no matter what significance they hold, are the essential components that comprise the massive amount of global waste that threatens our environment. Performing this experiment on such a waste product using the knowledge we acquired from AP Chemistry, provided us with the opportunity to test out our lab skills and the proper way to implement our knowledge in experiments, in the meantime observing and determining how we can use this knowledge to turn wastes into useful instruments.

Keywords: protein extraction, turkey feathers, feather waste, laboratory experiment, AP Chemistry;