At sea, plastic 0.0

Author: AUTHOR: CEIP Plurilingue Espiñera Aldán, grade 5
PARTNER: class II A (grade 7), I.S. Abbé Trèves - St. Vincent, Valle d’Aosta (IT); classe II B (grade 7), I.S. Abbé Trèves - St. Vincent, Valle d’Aosta (IT)

Introduction

At sea, plastic 0.0

"We do not value what we do not know", hence the need to be aware of the environmental impact that plastic is having on our sea. Because...

Did you know that more than eight million tonnes of plastic are dumped into the sea every year? Did you know that in every two square kilometres of seawater there are about 50.000 plastic objects? Did you know that there are already more than five trillion pieces of plastic in the oceans? Did you know that plastic is currently the biggest threat to marine ecosystems? Did you know that every year more than 100.000 marine mammals become entangled in or ingest plastic pieces? Did you know that 90% of seabirds have plastic in their stomachs? Did you know that the decomposition of plastics has serious consequences for our health?

Because of this and much more, it´s vitally important to find a solution, and this means becoming truly aware of the problem of plastic pollution. In this Seedquest we´ll focus on analysing the impact of this material on our environment and we´ll do so by cleaning up the beach near our school. The evidence of the serious situation will get us going, give us strength and determination. We need to create a superteam! In this way, we´ll contribute to creating a better world.

You children are the citizens of the future, with the power and knowledge to join forces, to take initiatives and to avoid, as the most ominous predictions say, that in 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the sea.
Let's get to work! Objective: 0.0 plastic in our sea.

Learning Objectives

Become aware of the environmental impact of plastics on the degradation of the environment and our lives and the need to aim for an environment free of this waste.
Search and analyse simple online information about microplastics.
Collect and analyse data in a systematic, useful and verifiable way.
Identify, classify, weigh and investigate the degradation time of different plastic waste.
Reflect, learn about and propose solutions to deal with the problem.
Reuse: give another life to waste, developing your creativity.
Share the data obtained and our experience with the relevant authorities, the educational community and our environment. reflect on behaviour.

Task

Collage of photos of the proposed activities.

We´ll carry out three main tasks consisting of reflection, information research and action.

For the informative documentation, the tasks will consist of:

Brainstorming on "In the sea: plastic 0.0".
Collect information on this issue through the different sources provided.

For the "action", the main tasks will be:

Clean the beach next to the school.
Sorting the waste we find.
Leave our "positive footprint" on the environment, creating an artistic work to raise environmental awareness.

Process

1. Brainstorm.
What do we know about this topic? In groups of four and using the cooperative work techniques "mural sentence" and "rotating folio", you will activate previous knowledge about the contents to be worked on, generating new ideas.

2. Gathering information.
Also in groups, you will have to answer questions raised in the brainstorming session, as well as deepen the knowledge you have already acquired.

You will surf the net to look for data mainly about: plastic pollution in the seas, the risks that this pollution has for human health, as well as the importance of reducing plastic consumption and some tips to achieve it. You will find the search links in the margin of this page. You can use other complementary links. You will also find a pdf document with the first pages of the book "Kids fight plastic", where you will find different "daily missions" to become a superhero fighting against plastic.

3. Beach clean-up:

From the school, we will go to the beach (Areacova), while we observe on the way different aggressions to the environment.
On the beach, we will organise ourselves, remembering the objectives of our visit and we will start collecting data that could have an impact on the amount of plastic found. To do this, we will fill in the form attached in the documents section.
Then we will organise the cleaning plots and get down to work. To delimit the plots, we will mark the 4 square metres of each area with reeds and tape. In groups, you will make a grid distribution of the beach to organise the areas to be cleaned, reflecting them on a map.
Once the plots have been established, you will collect the plastics in pairs: you will identify, record in writing and photograph each piece of rubbish found.

4. Classification of the objects found.

In the classroom, each pair will classify the waste found. To classify them, we use the record sheet where different objects are listed according to the material they are made of. You can find the record sheet attached in the documents section.
Then we will weigh the rubbish in the different bins: yellow, blue, green, rest, clean point and sanitary.
Once these tasks have been completed, we will send the total data collected to the competent authorities.

5. Our positive footprint.

With the rubbish found, you will carry out an awareness campaign at school and village about the impact of plastic in the ocean. Some ideas could be the artistic creation of a mosaic made with the microplastics, a sea-themed sculpture made with the large pieces of waste found.... Whatever you can think of! Creativity at its best!
At last, in pairs, you will make a short video reflection on the conclusions you have drawn from this small project.

Evaluation

Knowledge acquired

The impact of human way of life on the environment.
Microplastics and waste decomposition.
Dangers of plastic pollution for our environment and our health.
Environmentally responsible advice and behaviour.

Skills acquired

To be able to search different sources of information in a truthful way.
To develop strategies for organising and planning tasks.
To develop cooperative work skills.
To cover observation sheets and data recording sheets in a rigorous and systematised way.
To use simple procedures for sorting, classifying, reusing and recycling waste.
To encourage critical thinking and adopt ways to raise awareness of the issue.
To get started in the use of different languages.
To assume responsible attitudes towards the environment and promote respect for nature.

Competences acquired

Linguistic communication
Mathematical competence
Basic competences in science and technology
Digital competence
Social and civic competences
Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship
Cultural awareness and expressions

The work will be assessed on the basis of involvement, thoroughness and cooperation at different stages of the project. The students will create rubrics to determine the degree of learning.

Conclusion

Thanks to this project, students became aware of the problem that plastic poses to the environment and the oceans.

Through this Seedquest, they had access to information and tasks that encouraged reflection on this issue.

With the help of the Internet and new technologies we have been able to carry out different documentation tasks, as well as to share our work and experiences and learn from other neighbouring countries.

The students have enriched their previous knowledge about plastic, as well as developed skills and competences, such as ICT skills and teamwork.

With this way of working, we have been able to establish relationships with other schools, break the isolation of the school and empower ourselves.

Resources

Links

Protect the world´s oceans
https://oceana.org/

Marine litter
https://aebam.org/basuras-marinas/

Plastic Greenpeace
https://es.greenpeace.org/es/trabajamos-en/consumismo/plasticos/

"Tough reality": Raising awareness of the problem.
https://elplasticomata.com/

Tips for living without plastic
https://vivirsinplastico.com/

Documents