Scientific Method

In this lesson, students assess where particles are suspended in the water column (using a premade plastic slurry). Next, the slurry is mixed into a tub of water that is designed to mimic seawater and students take samples to assess the amount, size, and type of the particulates. Students relate this activity to what they might actually find in the ocean.

In this lesson, students are presented with background information about marine debris – what it is, its origins, and current statistics. Students will engage in a brief discussion about its impacts. Afterward, students are given handouts to review the scientific process. Students are asked to come up with three research questions about the prevention or removal of marine debris.

Students extract microplastic beads from personal care products, explore ways microplastics get into the ocean, and learn about a researcher who studies microplastics. This activity is available for Grades 6-8, within the "Sources and Transport" unit. 

Students use a model to test how air movement affects water movement, and devise a hypothesis about how the direction of air currents affect the movement of ocean surface currents and floating objects. This activity is available for Grades 6-8 and 9-12, within the "Sources and Transport" unit. 

In this lesson, students will collect debris on their school grounds,“x” number of miles from the ocean and compare the quantity of plastic in the sample with a similar sample at the mouth of the river, where it empties into the ocean.

This interdisciplinary lesson centers around a storybook and three related classroom activities. In the story, three children work together to learn about surface currents and the seafaring history of a plastic duck found on a beach. Students engage in reading, writing, and science process skills. This activity is available for Grades 4-5, within the "Sources and Transport" unit. 

In this lesson, students follow a scientific data collection procedure to collect and analyze debris at their school campus.

Students perform an experiment to learn how different types of debris break down over time and how they are their degradation is affected by environmental conditions. This activity is available for Grades 6-8 and 9-12, within the "Composition and Abundance" unit. 

Students relate the location of plastics in the water column to the feeding behavior of various marine organisms. They discuss how marine debris can cause problems for different animals inhabiting a variety of ocean depths. This activity is available for Grades 4-5 within the "Impacts" unit, and for Grades 6-8 and 9-12 within the "Composition and Abundance" unit. 

Students will participate in a hands-on activity where they will be asked to utilize parts of the scientific method including observing, hypothesizing, experimenting (classifying), and conclusion forming. Depending on grade level and ability, this may include graphing/charting and communicating results.

Students will conduct an experiment to try and create a polymer of their own using the scientific method. They will also investigate the properties of various manmade polymers.

Students will learn what microplastics are, where they come from, and their effect on the environment.

In this activity, students will investigate how long it takes different types of debris to degrade and how weather and sunlight affect the breakdown rate. Students will learn how degradation rates impact how long debris persists in the environment. Students will learn the difference between human-made and natural materials.

In this lesson students will learn about which types of matter can decompose by conducting a simple experiment. Students will observe changes over time due to decomposition, notice patterns and classify materials based on their ability to decompose, and explain how matter changes through decomposition.

<!--td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}-->  In this activity, students will learn about the fundamentals of water treatment systems and the challenges that microplastic particles present to both waste and drinking water systems.