Grade 6-8

<!--td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}-->  Research-based role-playing activity where students identify and investigate stakeholders on the issue of abandoned and derelict vessels.

Brief reading about the risks and solutions of abandoned and derelict vessels, including an anecdote about locating and removing vessels in Georgia.

Reading and accompanying activity about the importance and challenges faced by diamondback terrapins.

Reading and activity exploring the impacts of derelict fishing gear on whales and other marine mammals. 

<!--td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}-->  Rubber band entanglement exercise simulating the impacts of marine debris entanglement on marine animals' comfort and ability to feed.

Experiment comparing the breaking points of several weights of fishing line.

<!--td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}-->  Introductory reading on the sources and impacts of derelict fishing gear.

<!--td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}-->  A listening exercise where students predict and act out the movement of litter from a stream, through a watershed, into the ocean.

<!--td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}-->  A listening and matching game where students connect descriptions of debris to the debris type.

<!--td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}-->  A simple experiment demonstrating the bouyancy of several common types of debris and their potential behavior throughout the ocean's currents.

A timed activity/game demonstrating the difficulty of distinguishing "food" from plastic debris for marine life like seabirds.

<!--td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}-->  Discussion of litter-based sources of marine debris, including a brief look at impacts and prevention strategies, including an anecdote about seeds and litter found on the wrack line, or tidal line, in North Carolina.

<!--td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}-->  A coloring and sorting activity identifying an then discussing different types of debris hidden in a picture.

This brief reading passage discusses types, sources, and impacts of marine debris, including an anecdote about recovery from Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi.

In this lesson, students analyze the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup data to make inferences about which countries documented the most amount of marine debris and the types of debris found/collected. Students also answer prompts about why some states or countries had much higher amounts of marine debris reported than others.