User:Polymersrock/sandbox

Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
Most of the information in the article is relevant to the article topic or is a subtopic of the main topic. Nothing distracted me necessarily; however, it seemed like there was a lot of information about DNA, RNA, and proteins that wasn't necessary for the development of the "Macromolecule" article.

Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?
It does not seem like any information is out of date. There can definitely be more information added about synthetic macromolecules considering how much information is given about biopolymers. I think that subcategories could be added (plastics, rubbers, etc.) in a similar manner to the biopolymers categories. Information (and citations) is also missing in the "Properties" section of the article. There are many more properties that could be listed in-depth.

What else could be improved?
I think that the images could be more relevant to the article and more images could be added. For example, the last image shows a dendrimer; however, dendrimers are never mentioned within the actual article.

Is the article neutral? Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
The tone is neutral. There does not seem to be any heavy bias. The article seems to simply be stating the facts.

Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
The viewpoint focuses more on biology (biopolymers) than chemistry (synthetic macromolecules). More information on the latter should be included to create a more even representation of the two subjects.

Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?
Many of the links (2-4) do not work and redirect to "page not found." The sources that do direct to other pages seem to support the claims.

Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
No. The section about "Properties" is missing important information, and it seems like some of it was deleted because there were no citations. The facts that are cited seem to come from science journals that have been peer-reviews and science textbooks.

What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
The conversations are similar to the comments that I have already made. Some people have stated that there is too much of a focus on the biopolymers section and that the synthetic macromolecule section should be expanded.

How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
The article is part of the WikiProject Molecular and Cell Biology and WikiProject Chemistry. Both rate the article as C-class and it is rated high-performance by the former and mid-performance by the latter. The article is also part of WikiProject Polymers.

How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
In class, we discuss the topic in much more detail because we have more time to learn about the topic than someone who just wants a quick read about macromolecules. We also focus only, or at least so far we have, on synthetic macromolecules. We have not discussed any biopolymers, such as DNA, RNA, and proteins.

Sources for Article
=== Source 1: "Biodegradability of Plastics" ===

This source provides a rich overview of the biodegradability of various common plastics and the different microbes and mechanisms for degrading each plastic. While this article does not go into immense detail, it will provide a broad scope of plastics that are used and the various additives and mechanisms that are possible for biodegradation.

=== Source 2: "Biodegradation of plastics: current scenario and future prospects for environmental safety" === This is a review article about the biodegradability of many plastics and the current state of biodegradability. It will be helpful to use information from this article in the introduction section to explain to the reader why they should care about this subject and the role of additives in enhancing the biodegradability of plastics. This article also explains both the aerobic and anaerobic mechanisms of microbial degradation, which will be useful in improving the "mechanism" section that currently exists.

=== Source 3: "Study of Microbes Having Potentiality for Biodegradation of Plastics" === This is another review article. While it is similar to the first two sources, this article describes the mechanisms of biodegradation in different terms - indirect and direct degradation by microorganisms - and explains why microbes are even able to degrade plastics, which is not mentioned in other articles. The explanation of biodegradation is easiest to follow in this article and will probably be a good way to explain the mechanism to Wikipedia readers.

=== Source 4: "Thermal Characterization of Polyethylene Blends with a Biodegradable Masterbatch Subjected to ThermoOxidative Treatment and Subsequent Soil Burial Test" === This source will be useful in explaining the various characteristics of plastics (crystallinity, lamellar thickness, morphology) that can/will be affected by the addition of additives. In this article, a specific experiment was done on polyethylene to determine the degradation effects by using starch as an additive. While this article focuses solely on polyethylene, the extent and types of changes can be used to explain general effects of biodegradable additives. This will enrich the Wikipedia article by supporting the creation of a new section on starch, a very common biodegradable additive/blend.

=== Source 5: "Enhancing the biodegradation rate of poly(lactic acid) films and PLA bio-nanocomposites in simulated composting through bioaugmentation" === This article describes the use of bioaugmenation - the addition of certain microbial strains to plastics - to increase the biodegradability of certain plastics. This is a unique form of biodegradable additives that is not explained in quite as much detail in other articles. This will enrich the Wikipedia article by supporting the creation of a new section of bioaugmentation, a specific form of biodegradable additives.

=== Source 6: "Biological degradation of plastics: a comprehensive review" === This article explains the mechanism of biodegradation and discusses two biodegradable additives that are used to increase the biodegradability of polyethylene. This source will be beneficial in explaining the mechanisms of microbial degradation (a section which already exists in the article but seems to be very general and hard to understand).