Earth Science

Students learn about at least two possible impacts of microplastics on the marine environment. They calculate the surface area of rectangular prisms of various sizes and create an argument that the greater surface area of small plastic pieces can potentially accumulate more toxins.

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 construct models of ocean surface currents and winds to explain the dispersal of Japanese Tsunami Marine Debris (JTMD). Then they compare their model to those generated by researchers.

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. 

Students read a true story about bath toys that fell off a container ship and washed up on beaches around the world. Using a world map, they locate and record the dates and places where the toys were eventually found.

This activity will serve as a catalyst for students to derive connections between their actions and the impact on the environment. Students will observe marine debris from around the world, collect their own trash data around school, and use technology to further research. Once the data can be compared, students will communicate their findings in a group setting.

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. They compare their results to a larger existing marine debris database in California, and make connections between campus debris and marine debris using the concept of watersheds. This activity is available for Grades 4-5, within the "Sources and Transport" unit. 

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. 

There is a great deal of information and misinformation about how much marine debris exists in the open ocean and how it is distributed. We often hear that “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of Texas”, but what exactly does that mean? Students will read and discuss the article “Pacific Ocean 'garbage patch' exaggerated, new analysis asserts”.

Students use a sampling protocol to collect, sort and quantify (by number or by weight) marine debris collected from a beach. The 5 Gyres lesson provides data cards for macro and micro marine debris. This activity is available for Grades 4-5, 6-8, and 9-12, within the "Composition and Abundance" unit. 

Students explore a local riverbank or beach and carry out a survey to assess human impacts on the area. Students analyze and share their findings. This activity is available for Grades 4-5, within the "Composition and Abundance" unit. 

Students will review key marine debris vocabulary using BINGO. They will explore and discuss different solutions to and prevention for the marine debris problem. Students will also brainstorm new creative solutions through art. Students will be asked to make a commitment to decreasing their plastic consumption by signing a Plastics Pledge.

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.