Polluting the Ocean (Junior)

POLLUTING THE OCEAN
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Slide 1: Slide
Social StudiesHistory+3Age 51st,2nd Grade

This lesson contains 25 slides, with interactive quizzes, text slides and 1 video.

time-iconLesson duration is: 45 min

Introduction

Pollution is threatening the ocean, from toxic waste to all sorts of plastic, forming a hazard for all marine wildlife. Creating a toxic hazard for marine wildlife. In this lesson we discuss the issues of pollution, how it ends up in the ocean and it’s impacts on marine wildlife.

Instructions

During this lesson we will look at why pollution is an issue and how it ends up in the ocean.

Time: 45 minutes

Contact: education@seashepherdglobal.org
© Sea Shepherd 2021

Instructions

Worksheets

Items in this lesson

POLLUTING THE OCEAN

Slide 1 - Slide

Ocean pollution
During this lesson we will look at why pollution is an issue and how it ends up in the ocean.

What you already know...
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Evaluate your knowledge

Click on the image

Watch  the video

Slide 2 - Slide

During the lesson we will use these icons to identify the learning actions.
Introduction to IUU fishing and the impact of overfishing.
Pollution and how it ends up in the ocean.

Slide 3 - Slide

In this lesson we explain what IUU fishing is and the impact overfishing is having on the ocean.

INTERACTIVE JOIN – ask students to go to www.LessonUp.app

Introduction to IUU fishing and the impact of overfishing.
What do you see in the ocean?

Slide 4 - Slide

What’s in the ocean?
Ask students:

When you think about swimming in the ocean and you dive down to see what is there, what marine animals do you think you would see?

What else do you think you would see?


INTERACTIVE JOIN – ask students to go to www.LessonUp.app

Introduction to IUU fishing and the impact of overfishing.
Beautiful ocean.

Slide 5 - Slide

What’s in the ocean?
When we think about the ocean we think about coral reefs, whales, sea turtles, dolphins and sharks, all swimming around in the beautiful blue ocean.


Over 100 million tons of fish caught each year.
A sea of trash.

Slide 6 - Slide

A sea of trash
But it is not always so beautiful in the ocean.

Ask the children:
Would you expect to see this in the ocean?

Talk about what items they can see and which items don’t belong in the ocean.


Over 100 million tons of fish caught each year.
Trashed beaches.

Slide 7 - Slide

Trashed beaches
Ask the children:
Would you expect to see this on the beach?

Talk about what items they can see on the beach and what doesn’t belong there.


Over 100 million tons of fish caught each year.
What do marine animals think?

Slide 8 - Slide

What would marine animals think?
What do you think happens if marine animals find trash in the ocean?

Marine wildlife don’t know what trash is.  Can you imagine being a baleen whale lunge feeding and ending up with plastic bags and other rubbish being scooped up with krill or fish.

Discuss with them what might happen and why it is not good for animals to eat plastic.

Some other examples to use:
  • Sea turtles finding old plastic bags that look like jellyfish.
  • Little fish eating bits of plastic that look like food. Like micro beads or glitter.
  • Sea birds mistaking plastic for fish.


Illegal Fishing
Illegal fishing means that the fishermen enter the territorial waters of a country or regulated marine zone without permission or without a license for the fish they intend to catch.

They are stealing from these waters.
HOW BIG IS THE ISSUE?

Each year over 12 million tonnes of trash finds its way into the ocean

= one garbage truck every 40 seconds.

Slide 9 - Slide

How much ends up in the ocean?
Every 40 seconds a truck load of trash goes into the sea.   That’s a lot of trash going in to the ocean.

Over 12 million tonnes of plastic a year, which equals a garbage truck load every 40 seconds. Soon it might be two truck loads a minute.

Illegal Fishing
Illegal fishing means that the fishermen enter the territorial waters of a country or regulated marine zone without permission or without a license for the fish they intend to catch.

They are stealing from these waters.
ABANDONED, LOST AND DISCARDED FISHING GEAR
Up to 46% plastic in North Pacific gyre is fishing gear. Over 20% globally.

➢    Abandoned –  means deliberate non retrieval of fishing gear.
➢    Discarded – deliberate disposal at sea of fishing gear.
➢    Lost – means accidental loss at sea.

Slide 10 - Slide

Ghost nets
Not only does trash end up in the ocean, but fishing nets and lines do to. They are lost overboard or dumped by fishing vessels.

The nets end up floating freely in the ocean, becoming ghost nets that trap unsuspecting marine animals.

Imagine marine mammals swimming and all of a sudden find themselves caught in these nets and lines, unable to get out without help.

Each year 640,000 tonnes of fishing gear is lost or discarded at sea from commercial fishing vessels.

How does trash end
up in the ocean?

Slide 11 - Mind map

How does it end up there?

Ask students
“How do you think trash ends up in the ocean? “


Over 100 million tons of fish caught each year.
Washed away.

Slide 12 - Slide

How does it end up in the ocean?
Down the drain
Some plastics are washed down the drain, such as micro plastics like micro beads, glitter and micro fibers from clothes.

Ask students what else might get washed down the drain that is bad for the ocean?
  • Household chemicals – cleaning products, paint, weed killers.

Dumped on streets, parks or school grounds

The wind and rain moves it into stormwater drains, creeks and rivers leading to the ocean or other bodies of water.

Ask students what they have seen dropped on to the streets and parks that could end up in the ocean?
  • Cigarette butts are a huge issue. They contain hundreds of chemicals and plastic. Trillions of them are thrown away each year, with large numbers ending up in the ocean.

  • A lot of clothing is partially made of plastic. When these clothes are washed, small pieces of plastic start to break off and are washed down the drain. These are referred to as microfibers.
  • Nurdles are small plastic pellets that are used to manufacture plastic products. This way the plastic is easier to transport and integrate into manufacturing than sheets or blocks of plastic. When containers full of plastic pellets are lost at sea, these plastic pellets are often found washing up on beaches and coastlines.
  • Micro beads are used in products like facial cleansers, scrubs, shower gels and toothpaste. It is likely that, when cleaning your teeth you are washing plastic beads down the drain. 
Some countries are now banning micro beads and demand natural alternatives to be used.
Glitter also washes straight down the drain and into the ocean harming marine wildlife. There are non plastic alternatives that can be used instead.

Over 100 million tons of fish caught each year.
Tourists leaving behind.

Slide 13 - Slide

How does it end up in the ocean?
Left on beaches
Visitors to beaches leave behind their rubbish, which is then washed into the ocean with the tide, or blown into the ocean by the wind.

Tourists leaving rubbish behind
Some tourist destinations are island nations who have limited facilities to manage waste. Visiting tourists leave behind their waste for locals to remove. Rubbish dumps are often close to the water, so it can blow into the ocean.

Ask students what they have seen dropped on the beach that could end up in the ocean?
  • Plastic food packaging and drink containers.

Over 100 million tons of fish caught each year.
Deliberate dumping.

Slide 14 - Slide

How does it end up in the ocean?
Intentionally dumped into the ocean by people or business in order to save money.
Instead of disposing of rubbish properly it is dumped into waterways or directly into the ocean.

Dumped into waterways by communities
Not all countries are set up with proper waste management. There are communities with no waste removal process so they dump their rubbish into rivers for it to be taken away.

Over 100 million tons of fish caught each year.
Dumped or lost overboard.

Slide 15 - Slide

How does it end up in the ocean?
Thrown overboard from ships
While ships are supposed to manage their waste and offload it in port, some are still guilty of dumping it overboard when in international waters, where they think no one is watching.  

Lost overboard from cargo ships – during storms containers go overboard.
During severe weather events and rough seas it is possible for shipping containers to come loose and topple overboard. They may sink, or break open and the contents wash into the ocean, or they may wash up on beaches.

In 1992 a cargo vessel lost a container of 28,000 yellow plastic ducks in North Pacific ocean. The container broke open and the yellow ducks floated away.  They are still washing up ashore everywhere around the world today.

Over 100 million tons of fish caught each year.
Natural disasters.

Slide 16 - Slide

How does it end up in the ocean?
During storms and floods household items get washed away in waterways and end up in the ocean.



Over 100 million tons of fish caught each year.
Five gyres and ocean currents.

Slide 17 - Slide

Five gyres and ocean current
Once trash and pollution reaches the ocean it is caught up in ocean currents and will be moved out into the gyres.  

An ocean current is a movement of water.  There are currents along most coastlines that move water along and out to sea.

Gyres are areas where the ocean currents meet. There are five main gyres in the ocean.

When trash enters the ocean it moves from the coast and is pushed along, it might find its way into one of these gyres in the middle of the ocean, or it could end up on a beach in another country.

Over 100 million tons of fish caught each year.
How can we make a difference?

Slide 18 - Slide

How can we make a difference
We know what is ending up in the ocean, how it finds its way there, and how harmful it is to marine animals, so what can we do to stop this happening.

Ask students:
What are some of the ways you think we can stop trash ending up in the ocean, especially plastics?

These are some suggestions to discuss with students.

CHANGING WHAT WE DO
By thinking about what we do and use we can help make a difference and reduce our waste.

1. What we buy and consume

Refuse – When offered these items just say no. For instance plastic straws or plastic bags.

Reduce
Reduce is simple if you don’t really need it, don’t take it. Avoid plastic wrappings and balloons etc, ending up in the ocean and harming the environment.

Reuse
Instead of single use plastic products that could end up in the ocean, how about choosing reusable items.  Like using a reusable water bottle and cutlery rather than disposable plastic. Encourage your parents to use items like coffee cups and travel mugs for when they buy coffee rather than disposable cups.

2. What we do with items that are broken or damaged.
  • First try to repair – why buy new when you can simply learn how to repair things.
  • Second repurpose – if you can’t repair an item then think of new ways you can use it. Old sheets and clothes for example can be used to make bedding for orphaned and injured wildlife.
  • Thirdly refinish – would a new coat of paint or polish make it useable again.

3. What we do with items we no longer need.
  • Rehome - if an item is in good condition but you don’t need or want it anymore, like toys you have outgrown.  Then they could be donated to a charity for someone who has very little, they can be sold/swapped at swap markets, or you can have your own swaps with family and friends.
  • Recycle - can’t repurpose or repair it, then recycle as much as you can.  Make sure you separate out your rubbish between what can go into the compost bin, recycling bin and normal waste. The less you send to dump the better, especially plastics.

Some plastics can be returned for recycling at stores, like ink cartridges, others can be donated to special programs where they can be converted for 3D printing. Such as programs to make items that help communities, like making artificial limbs for children in need.

The more we refuse single use plastic items and recycle what we can, the less demand there is to produce new products and it also lessens the chance it will end up in the ocean, which could help save thousands of marine animals each year.

It is estimated only 9% of the plastic ever produced has been recycled.

4. What we do with waste / marine debris found on land or in the ocean.
  • Remove rubbish from parks, schoolyards and beaches. Every bit you pick up helps prevent rubbish from ending up in drains and waterways and ultimately ending up in the ocean.
  • Help recover marine debris from waterways and the ocean.   People join in dives to remove rubbish from around jetties / piers, reef systems and the seafloor.

Note – ensure you obey the laws, some areas have restrictions on removing rubbish, like fishing nets, to ensure the reef or ecosystem is not damaged.



What is your favourite marine animal and why?

Slide 19 - Open question

 What is your favourite marine animal?
Ask students to answer the following question using www.LessonUp.app or write on paper:
 
 “What is your favourite marine animal and why?”



Why is trash in the ocean bad?

Slide 20 - Open question

Why is trash in the ocean bad?
Ask students to answer the following question using www.LessonUp.app or write on paper:
 
 “Why is trash in the ocean bad?”


Write down one thing that you can do to
help protect marine animals?

Slide 21 - Open question

What can we do to protect marine animals?

Ask students to answer the following question using www.LessonUp.app or write on paper:
 
 “Write down one thing that you can do to help protect marine animals?”


Write down one new thing you have learned today?

Slide 22 - Open question

What did you learn?
Ask students to answer the following question using www.LessonUp.app or discuss in the classroom:  

“Write down one new thing you have learned today?”



Write down one thing you didn't understand?

Slide 23 - Open question

What don’t you understand?
Ask students to answer the following question using www.LessonUp.app or write on paper:

“Write down one thing you didn’t understand?”


Slide 24 - Video

Sea Shepherd Lesson Activity Sheets provide additional lesson activities or discussion topics to expand the learning experience.

Optional fun video.
Show this video (3.14 mins), which shows a humpback whale calf and mum playing with dolphins.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETvZI1hjVVE

www.seashepherdglobal.org

Slide 25 - Slide

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