Impacts of Marine Debris

This lesson covers different impacts of marine debris on the ecosystems and human communities, including ingestion, entanglement, and our own experiences. Students will complete two activities:

• Simple activity simulating the experience of entanglement for marine life using a rubber band.
• Hands-on activity using pudding and gummy creatures to simulate marine life ingesting plastic along with their regular diet.

Talking Trash and Taking Action was developed as a means to educate the next generation about ocean trash and, most importantly, how we all can prevent it. Created through an educational partnership between Ocean Conservancy and the NOAA Marine Debris Program, this flexible curriculum is appropriate for all ages.