Turtle Trash Collectors Program Activities Guide and Resources

Use these materials with the Turtle Trash Collectors interactive video. In this video, students can virtually participate in a simulated sea turtle necropsy, or animal dissection, learn how trash can get to the ocean and impact sea turtles, and learn how we can all help stop marine debris. 

In the Program Activities Guide, parents and teachers will find resources for the interactive video, information on marine debris, additional activities, and lesson extensions. 

Throughout the video, there are places to pause and discuss observations and predictions, which correspond with two optional printed resources. Students should use either the datasheet OR the flipbook as they follow along with the video. The datasheet is recommended for students in fourth grade and older, while the flipbook is recommended for students in third grade and below.

Turtle Trash Collectors is a University of North Carolina Wilmington MarineQuest environmental education initiative supported by the NOAA Marine Debris Program. The goal of this initiative is to educate youth about the impacts of marine debris and encourage behavior changes that reduce the generation of marine debris in the future. From 2019-2021, MarineQuest implemented the Turtle Trash Collectors program both in-person and virtually, reaching over 29,500 people worldwide.