Elementary Lesson Plan

Objective
This lesson will encourage students to think about the ocean environment, ocean pollution, and environmental stewardship through the exploration of how waste in our world affects oceans. Waste in Our Water Environment Elementary (Alberta Grade 4)

Oceans

Title Subject Grade level Materials

Time duration 2 class periods

The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen (1992) Video: The Magic School Bus On the Ocean Floor (Optional) A House for a Hermit Crab by Eric Carle (1987) Chart paper Drawing paper plus markers, crayons, coloured pencils Large Plastic Tub Oil (Vegetable or Canola) Pollutants (bits of scrap paper, fishing line, dirt and/or sand, plastic eating utensils, six pack rings, etc.) Cotton balls (one for each student) Oceans video (5:28) Presentation Rubric (included in this lesson)

Learning Activities

Preparation
Read the book The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor and discuss what students know about oceans, and what they would like to find out. Use a chart to document students thoughts. Keep this chart posted on the wall in the classroom. Encourage students to think about what would happen to plants and animals if the ocean became dirty or polluted. Share with the students that taking care of something that belongs to everyone is called stewardship. It is everyones responsibility to help take care of the oceans.

Learning Activities Activity1: Waste in Our Water

1. Define (or review) for the class pollution as waste that causes harm to the natural environment. Ask the students to brainstorm what kind of pollution they might see around their school or home. Share with the students that oceans are affected by pollution as well. Tell the students you are going to demonstrate how pollution affects the ocean and things that live in it. Fill a large container with water. Discuss with the children about clean water and ask them what they know about clean water. Relate it to the ocean. Begin pouring oil (vegetable, canola, whatever oil you have on hand) into the water, talk about pollution of the oceans. Ask students what might happen to plants and animals that live in the ocean if things that did not belong there were put into the ocean? Add other pollutants (e.g., paper, fishing line, dirt, paper products, plastic eating utensils, whatever you have on hand) and mix the water so that it becomes somewhat murky. Give each child a cotton ball, and ask them to pretend the cotton ball is a seal, turtle, fish or dolphin. Have the children run a cotton ball through the water. Ask them what happened to their ocean animal (The oil and some of the debris stayed on the cotton ball). Students should then discuss what might happen to the animal. (It might not be able to breath or swim.) Give students the definition of stewardship (the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to a persons care). Explain that by helping take care of the oceans and other waterways they are acting for the common good and are demonstrating good stewardship of the Earth. Discuss ways in which the children can take care of the ocean. (By not littering, picking up things that dont belong on the beach, using products that have less packaging materials, etc.)

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Activity2: Waste in Our Water Presentations 1. Divide students into small groups. Let students know that they will be reading about a topic related to oceans and then choosing to either perform a skit or give a mock news report about that topic. Assign each group a topic so that the class is evenly presenting on the following three topics: Pacific garbage patch, where does our waste go, and plastic pollution. Hand out fact sheets to each group about their given topic. Consider making enough copies of each fact sheet for the entire class (to hand out following the presentations). Students give five minute presentations, either as a skit or as a news report, to share information about their given topic. You may want to ensure that each topic is represented with at least one skit and one mock news report.

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Assessment

Groups can be assessed on: Group work skills Creativity with presentations Presentation Rubric Involvement in class

Activities for Extension and/or Integration

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Show students the Oceans video. Give students a piece of drawing paper. Tell them that you want them to create a picture with a description to put in a class book that explains how people can keep the ocean clean, or what pollutants do to ocean animals. Collect the childrens art work and create a class book. Ask each child to share their page of the book with the whole class.

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Subject and Level Learning Outcomes (Alberta)

This classroom activity will help students understand concepts introduced in Albertas grade 4 science curriculum, Waste in our World. In particular, it addresses the general learner expectation of recognizing that human activity can lead to the production of wastes.

Resources http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/problems/pollution/
http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/photos/ocean-pollution/ http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/pollution.html http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/oceans/?gclid=CKes9o97bMCFYVFMgodYyAAmg http://education.nationalgeographic.com/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbagepatch/?ar_a=1

FACT SHEET: OCEANS

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Right now, there is a gigant ic soup of tra sh float ing somew here between California, Hawaii and Asia . This is called the North Pac ific Gyre, or more commonly referred to as the Great Pacif ic Ga rbage Patch .
I t i s a swi rl i ng col l ect i on of pl asti c debri s, or garbag e, i n t he m i ddl e of t he Paci f i c O cean t hat i s bi gger t han t he st at e of Texas! About 80% of t he t rash i n t he G reat Paci f i c G arbage Pat ch com es f rom act i vi t i es on l and. Li t t er l i ke pl ast i c bot t l es, bott l e caps, and candy wrapper s can end up i n st orm drai ns or i n ri ve rs and st r eam s t hat em pt y i nt o a bay or t he ocean. Th e rest of t he t rash i n t he G arbage Pat ch (20% ) com es f rom act i vi t i es at sea. Every year, about 100 m i l l i on cont ai ners are shi pped ove r t he worl d s o ceans. O ne of t he shi ppi ng rout es i s bet ween Asi a and N ort h Am eri ca. There ar e f requent , severe st o rm s al ong t hi s rout e, whi ch cause hundre ds of cont ai ners t o go overbo ard ea ch yea r. Pl ast i c t ends t o m ake up a l arge part of ocean debri s . Si nce pl ast i c i s buoyant , or abl e t o f l oat, i t can easi l y t ravel l ong di st ances on oc ean cur rent s. I n addi t i on t o bei ng buoyant , pl ast i c i s al so persi st ent . That m eans i t l ast s a very, very, ver y l ong t i m e wi t hout nat ural l y breaki ng down or decom po si ng i nt o sm al l er part i cl es or t i ny pi eces. Pl ant s l i ke al gae, pl ankt on, and seaweed m ake up t he begi nni ng of t he f ood chai n f or ani m al s such as shri m p, f i sh, j el l yfi sh, bi rds, sea t urt l es, ot t ers, dol phi ns, shark s, and whal es W hen pl ast i cs end up i n our ocea n, t hey of t en appear as f ood t o ani m al s and becom e a dangerou s part of t he f ood chai n. I m agi ne a pl asti c bag f l oat i ng i n t he ocean. I t can l ook j ust l i ke a j ell yf i sh, whi ch sea t urt l es and dol phi ns l ove t o eat ! W hen t hese ani m al s eat pl asti c bags, i t can choke t hem . I t can al so fi l l t hei r st om ach wi t h t rash t hat doesn t di gest or m ove t hrough t hei r bodi es t o pro vi de t hem wi t h t he nut ri t i on needed t o survi ve.

FACT SHEET: OCEANS

Plastic Pollution
Plastics , like diamonds , are forever.
O ne of t he m ost seri ous t hreat s t o our ocean s i s pl ast i cs pol l ut i on. Pl ast i c const i t ut es approxi m at el y 90% of al l t rash f l oat i ng on t he ocean s surf ace. Unl i ke ot her t ypes of garbage, pl ast i c does not bi ode grade ; i nst ead, i t phot odegrad es wi t h sunl i ght , breaki ng down i nt o sm al l er and sm al l er pi eces, but t hey never r eal l y di sappea r. These pl ast i c pi eces ar e eat en by m ari ne l i f e, wash up on beaches, or b reak down i nt o m i crosco pi c pl ast i c dust , at t ract i ng m ore debri s. Pl ast i c poses a si gni f i cant t hreat t o t he healt h of sea creat ure s, bot h bi g and sm al l . O ver 100, 000 m ari ne m am m al s and one m i l l i on seabirds di e each yea r f rom i ngest i ng or becom i ng ent angl ed i n pl ast i c. Pl ast i c i s al so unusual l y t oxi c once i t ent ers t he ocean envi ronm ent . O rgani sm s at t he bot t om of t he f ood chai n, such as pl ankt on and kri l l , i ngest t he chem i cal s al ong wi t h t he m i croscopi c pl ast i c part i cl es. As l arger f i sh consum e t he sm al l er ones, t he chem i cal s work t hei r way up t he f ood chai n. Ul t im at el y, peopl e consum e t he l argest f i sh, havi ng a devast at i ng ef f ect on hum an heal t h. I t t akes 500-1000 yea rs f or pl ast i c t o degrade. Even i f we st opped usi ng pl ast i cs t oday, t hey wi l l rem ai n wi t h us f or m any generat i ons, t hreat eni ng bot h hum an and ocean heal t h. 8% of t he worl d s oi l i s used f or pl ast i c product i on. 267 speci es a round t he worl d ar e harm ed by pl ast i c. 44% of seabi rd, 43% of ocean m am m al s, and 86% of sea t urt l es i ngest or becom e t angl ed i n pl ast i c. N urdl es are sm al l pl ast i c pel l et s t hat are t he base of pl ast i c product i on and m anuf act uri ng. They are f ound i n sandy be aches wo r l dwi de and t hreat en count l ess m ari ne l i f e t hat acci dent al l y eat t hem .

FACT SHEET: OCEANS

Where does our Garbage Go?

Did you know that the litter on land can end up in the oceans? Marine litter is har d to see beca use much of it f loats under t he surface of the water. The only place that w e can rea lly see mar ine litter is on the shorelines.
W at er qual i t y get s worse as l i t t er rel eases poi sons a nd chem i cal s. Peopl e and ani m al s can get si ck f rom dri nki ng and usi ng t he di rt y wat er. Peopl e and ani m al s can get al so si ck f rom eat i ng l arge f i sh t hat have eaten ot her sea cr eat ure s (l i ke j el l yf i sh) t hat have eat en t i ny bi t s of pl ast i c. M ari ne l i t t er can bl ock pl ant s f rom get t i ng l i ght . N o l ight st ops phot osynt hesi s, whi ch i s an i m port ant part of t he eart h s l i f ecycl e. Sea creat ure s can get t angl ed up i n rope, wi re and pl ast i c bot t l e ri ngs f or f ood 60-80% of m ari ne wast e com es f rom l and. Thi s i ncl udes wast e f rom run-of f , st orm wat er drai ns, ai r -bor n debri s an d i rres ponsi bl e di sposal of garbage by be ach goers and c am pers. 80% of m ari ne l it t er i s pl ast i c. Li t t er ends up i n t he oceans when Peopl e go t o t he beach, have a pi cni c or BBQ and l i tter bl ows i nt o t he wat er. Li t t er dropped on t he gro und i s washed i nt o st orm dr ai ns event ual l y endi ng up i n t he oceans. W i nds bl ow garbage f rom l andf i l l s i nt o t he oceans. Peopl e t hrow garbag e (l i ke ol d t i res) i nt o t he sea (i l l egal dum pi ng). Acci dent al cont ai ner shi p spi l l s duri ng st orm s (hur ri c anes, t yphoons ).

Pl ast i c l i tt er i s one of t he m ost com m on t ypes of m ari ne debri s and can t ake up t o 1, 000 years t o bre ak down.

PRESENTATION RUBRIC

Name: _____________________

Date: ___________________

4 All group members participate equally. Group members help each other as needed. All group members speak clearly and are easy to understand. All group members speak to the entire audience. Information is presented in an organized way. Oral presentation includes many details.

3 All group members participate. Group members help each other as needed. Most group members speak clearly and are easy to understand. Most group members speak to the entire audience. Information is presented in an organized way. Oral presentation includes some details.

2 Some group members participate. Some group members speak clearly and are easy to understand. Some group members speak clearly, but are difficult to understand.

1 Only 1 or 2 group members participate. Most group members are hard to understand. Only 1 or 2 group members speak and can be understood.

Group members speak Most group members to only part of the speak only to part of audience. the audience. Information may be only partially organized. Oral presentation includes few details. Presentation is complete. Information is presented in a disorganized way. Oral presentation includes few or no details. Presentation is disorganized or incomplete.

Presentation is visually Presentation is organized and organized and complete. complete.

Total: _____