Ocean Plastics

The purpose of this lesson is to find personal meaning to plastic pollution by collecting samples from our local waterways and analysing them. Later we will connect this activity to polar researchers sampling sediment and finding plastic in the polar ocean in Svalbard, Norway.

Work gloves for each person  
Buckets (1 bucket per team)
Trash grabber (1 per team)
Clipboards (1 per team)
Pencils (1 per team)
Data sheets  (1 per team)
Large tarpaulin
Recycling bags to use to dispose of collected items
Hand sanitizer
First aid kit
Map of area where river is based

Tip: Using hard-wearing reusable work gloves reduces plastic waste.

Before the field trip:

• Work out which local area is riparian, that is, situated near a waterway, that you will go to in order to collect litter.
• Visit the area, assess the risks and obtain any required permissions.
• Create a simple map of the area and zones for litter collection and sorting.
• From the number of participants, work out how many people will be in each team and how many teams there will be.
• Arrange for adult helpers to work with younger children. 
• Write a set of activity guidelines – e.g. Work with a partner or stick with your team. Wear gloves. Work only in designated areas. Stay out of the water. Do not pick up anything that is potentially harmful, including needles, containers of liquids, animal carcasses,  or anything you are uncomfortable retrieving. Children should ask an adult for help if they are unsure.
• Sort and organise the materials  needed (pencils, clipboards, gloves and buckets) for each team.
• Think through disposal of litter after the activity – arrange for a pick-up with the appropriate agency, if needed.

Tip: Check there is shelter nearby and a strong phone signal.

Tip: Choose an area for sorting and recording samples that is visible and easily accessible. 

Tip: There are five parts to this activity, which could be run as a one-day activity, split into a field trip and positive action plan, or separated and developed across several different days. 

Before the field trip

Prepare an introduction to the flow of plastics from local environments to the Ocean. Participants should be given background information about the ubiquitous presence of plastics in ecosystems, including places like Svalbard in the Arctic. Participants should also be aware of the connection between plastic litter, especially litter along riparian areas and waterways, and the presence of plastic in oceans.   

Part 1 – Data collection in the field

• When everyone has arrived, set out the tarpaulin to create a ‘sample sorting area’.
• Introduce the activity.
• Review safety guidelines with all participants. 
  Assemble participants into teams and distribute a simple map – assign a location for each team to work in.
• Explain how to collect and record samples e.g. at the end of the collecting activity, participants should have recorded everything they found on the data sheet and total each type of item collected.
• Give a time limit, and instructions to return to the tarp with their bucket full to conduct their analysis.
• Hand out materials to one team at a time, and suggest each member should have a role; bucket holder, trash grabber, gloved assistant to pick up litter, clipboard and recording data. Learners may switch jobs during the activity.
• When the time is up, call everyone back to the tarpaulin to finish their sorting and data recording.

Tip: Ask teams to repeat the instructions before sending them off to start collecting.

Tip: Distribute materials just before the activity is about to start, to minimize distractions for participants. 

Part 2 – Data analysis, discussion, proposals

• Share the top five types of items collected by each team and the total number of items found in each of these five categories.
• Bring this data together for the whole group to see. An example of how the data may be recorded can be found here
• Discuss the findings with the participants. 

Part 3 – Data review

• Have the group recap the most common items they have collected.
• Ask the group to discuss what the possible sources of these plastic waste items are – what were they used for, where did they come from and why did they end up as litter here? (Carelessness, lack of trash or recycling containers?)
• Introduce the term ‘single use’ and ask the group to suggest alternatives to using these items only once. (Select reusable bottles or food containers instead of single-use items.) How could things be different?
• Discuss whether there is a pattern to where the litter was found? What could be done to reduce the litter? Are there specific groups that should be targeted for education e.g. A soccer team that practises on a field where plastic bottles are found. How can we raise awareness of the problem?

Part 4 – Connecting to the Arctic 

How does plastic move through the watershed and into oceans? 

• Recap where the most common items collected came from and ask the groups to discuss how they moved from their original location to where they were found. Then ask the groups to discuss what they think might have happened to the plastic waste if they hadn’t collected it.
• Use diagrams to explain different ways that plastics can move through the watershed and into oceans, and how the global ocean currents can act like a conveyor belt carrying sediment great distances.
• Distribute maps of the local area and ask teams to work together to identify the primary features of their watershed, including creeks and rivers.
• Next ask if the teams can identify how the local watershed connects to an ocean.
• Using the diagram from page 57 of the Polar Resource Book, students should identify the ocean current route closest to their watershed.
• Finally, students should trace the route that their collected items could move through their local watershed,  enter the ocean, and be carried on currents to the Arctic.

• Use the written work and creative outputs from Part 5: Taking Positive Action as forms of school assessment or for evaluation and impact.
• When conducting a cleanup activity in a riparian area, participants could also conduct water quality assessments.
• This activity can be adapted for different settings.