This lesson is part of an Idea Set called Tracking Our Plastic: Sea to Source.
Preparation
Recommended Prior Activities
Resources Provided:
- Videos (in carousel above)
- Ocean Plastics
- Sea to Source: Collecting Socioeconomic Data
- Chart: Know and Need to Know (linked above)
Required Technology:
- Internet access
- One computer per classroom
- Projector
- Speakers
Physical Space:
Grouping:
- Large-group learning
- Small-group work
Overview
Humans consume massive amounts of plastic, a material that can be molded easily at high temperatures. Although plastics have been used by humans for thousands of years, they were originally made of natural plant materials. In 1907, the first mass-produced synthetic plastics were developed, and the amount of plastic made each year has been growing since the 1950s. In 2015 alone, the world produced hundreds of millions pounds of plastic!
Scientists use a variety of data collection strategies to study plastics in watersheds, and each yields different information about the environment.
- Geospatial data tracks locations—for example, the latitude and longitude of a piece of plastic pollution.
- Observational data can encompass many types of information gleaned through simple recognition (such as the number of plastic bottles at a data collection site), or measured with tools (such as the weight of plastic pollution on a scale).
- Finally, social science data focuses on people, culture, and society—for example, interviews with residents and local businesses might reveal barriers to plastic recycling.
Objectives
Students will:
- Collect social science data by designing and asking interview questions.
- Connect human behavior to plastic pollution and its mitigation.
- Evaluate the relative merits of complementary data collection strategies.
Teaching Methods:
Multimedia Instruction: The integration of more than one type of media, e.g., photo, video, text, etc., in a presentation or module of instruction.
Experiential Learning: Learning by doing—includes knowledge and skills acquired outside of book/lecture learning situations through work, play, and other life experiences (Note: do not confuse with "learning experience").
Discussions: Oral, and sometimes written, exchange of opinions—usually to analyze, clarify, or reach conclusions about issues, questions, or problems.
Skills Summary
This activity targets the following skills:
Directions
1. Facilitate a class discussion on how humans can contribute to and conquer marine plastic debris with a video.
- Prepare students to watch the video Ocean Plastics (3:36) (in carousel above), previewing the following questions by recording them in a visible location so that students will be prepared to respond after watching:
- What types of plastics were people using? (People were using primarily plastic netting.)
- Why were they using these plastics? (People were using these nets because they depend on fishing for food and money.)
- What happened with the plastics after use? (The plastic nets were often discarded on beaches.)
- What was the solution to the pollution problem here? (Nets were collected and sold.)
- After watching the video, solicit student responses to the questions and write them in a visible location, encouraging students to also record their own and peers’ responses in their notes. Next, ask students to think about their own plastic use, with parallel questions, and discuss as a class to activate prior knowledge:
- What type of plastics do you use most?
- Why do you use these plastics rather than reusable items?
- What happens to your plastic items after you use them?
- What might be some solutions to your contribution to plastic pollution?
2. Support student social science data collection practice.
- Remind students of their ultimate goal in this lesson: to answer the question How does plastic go from me to the sea? To respond, they must continue honing their data collection skills.
- Revisit the types of observational data students gleaned from the video in the prior activity, Sea to Source. If necessary, view the social science data collection video, Sea to Source: Collecting Socioeconomic Data (5:32), again as a class (in carousel above).
- Inform students that they will practice conducting interviews about plastic use.
- Pair students and ask each set of partners to develop three interview questions that they believe will most improve their understanding of peers’ plastic use.
- Prompt students to use the questions from Step 1 as a starting place if necessary.
- Split pairs and ask each student to move around the classroom, recording peers’ responses in their notebooks to their three questions.
- Return students to their pairs to compare and contrast the responses they received, and to revise questions as necessary for clarity and completeness.
- Solicit pairs’ interview questions and record them, avoiding redundancy when possible, to create a class list of questions to be used in later social science data collection events.
3. Prompt students to evaluate and refine strategies for all three data collection types.
- Place the class list of data collection strategies from the prior Sea to Source activity in a visible location.
- In the pairs from Step 2, ask students to reflect on each strategy individually. Now that they have more experience with watersheds and with data collection, ask:
- Are there particular strategies that we need to revise before our first data collection day in which we explore a local watershed?
- Are there any other strategies that we might wish to add?
- Solicit contributions from these pairs to refine the strategies from all three data collection types (geospatial, observational, and social science).
- Revisit the class Know and Need to Know chart and update it with any information the students now feel they know, in relation to data collection strategies, after having practiced a variety of strategies together.
Informal Assessment
Observe students’ creation of interview questions and comfort level questioning and recording peer responses to informally evaluate their collection of social science data. Examine their contributions to the class list of data collection strategies to plan future interventions prior to data collection and analysis during the following lesson.
Tips & Modifications
- Step 2: Students may take social science data collection more seriously if able to interview subjects outside of the classroom. Consider pairing with a different class or interviewing school administration.
Connections to National Standards, Principles, and Practices
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) available through the National Science Teacher's Association:
- Performance Expectation:
- MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
- MS-ESS2-4:Develop a model to describe the cycling of water through Earth's systems driven by energy from the sun and the force of gravity.
- Science & Engineering Practices:
- Planning and carrying out investigations: Plan an investigation individually and collaboratively, and in the design: identify independent and dependent variables and controls, what tools are needed to do the gathering, how measurements will be recorded, and how many data are needed to support a claim.
Common Core State Standards (CCSS):
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
