Virtual Field Trip: Eat Less Plastic
Summary
We are excited to bring to you exciting videos, engaging lessons and more from our EarthEcho Expeditions: PlasticSeas!
In celebration of the release of Expedition: PlasticSeas we are hosting a virtual field trip hosted by Magen Schifiliti, Conservation and Education Director at Trilogy Excursions. This virtual field trip will give background information about the global plastic problem and why single-use plastics are harmful to the environment at large, our oceans in particular, and specifically the impacts that our EarthEcho team found in Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne, Australia. This event will focus on the issues associated specifically with microplastics and discuss Magen’s experience and findings on the Eat Less Plastic Voyage. Magen will also share positive solutions and stories of what people are doing in their local communities to combat the plastic problem.
In this event, EarthEcho will introduce the new resources included in EarthEcho Expeditions: PlasticSeas and charge young people with developing and sharing solutions to the global plastics pollution problem!
Panelists
Magen Schifiliti
After completing her Master’s Degree from the University of Western Australia, Magen moved to Maui to pursue her career. She quickly was snatched up by Trilogy Excursions.
Since 1973, Trilogy has been a leader in sustainability both above and below the water. Their involvement in reef clean-up's and other environmentally responsible practices fostered an environment for their employees to create Blue’aina. Blue’Aina is a campaign that Trilogy has committed to sponsor every month since its inception in January 2010. The objective of the Blue’Aina Campaign is to clean up and maintain Maui’s reef and surrounding lands, educate the community through classes and citizen science, raise money and lend volunteer support for local non-profits.
In 2017 Magen received the “Tour Guide of the Year” award from Hawaii Ecotourism Association. She sits on the Surfrider Foundation Maui board and the Hawaiian Island Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Foundation board.
Classroom Resources
Plastic, Sort It Out!
In this investigation, students design and create a Recycling Sorting Machine to eliminate the amount of waste that is incorrectly being sent to landfill. Students use basic resources (recycled and/or reused items in the classroom, home, or their community) to engineer a solution to the growing problem of waste in our schools.
PlasticSeas: Nurdle Know-How
Students examine the nature of the problem and work collaboratively to create solutions to the issue of nurdles becoming evermore present in our oceans. Nurdles are small plastic resin pellets which are used to make many of the plastics we use every day. Unfortunately, they end up where they are not supposed to and cause a wide range of problems. Nurdle Know-How is a series of activities that will ultimately prepare students to design and build a nurdle capture system to clean up their local bay, harbor, or coastal waters.
PlasticSeas: ReThink Your Plastic
Students will follow the engineering design process to explore solutions to the overwhelming plastic packaging problem. They will develop sustainable designs that will consider alternatives to plastic packaging in items like juice boxes, plastic straws, bin liners, and single-use take-away/take-out containers.
PlasticSeas: Product Life Cycle
In this investigation, students describe the life cycle of man-made products that include or originate from plastic to evaluate how they may impact the environment. Students use a basic life cycle assessment – similar to assessments used by process engineers – that allows them to identify and order the different steps in the life cycle of a product. Using their analyses to compare the impacts of different products, students develop ideas to reduce the environmental impact of the production process or lifecycle of the product.
EarthEcho Expeditions: PlasticSeas (Coming Soon!)
- Engaging videos, STEM career close-ups and more
STEM Design Challenges
- Plastic, Sort It Out!: In this investigation, students will design and create a Recycling Sorting Machine to eliminate the amount of waste that is incorrectly being sent to landfill. Students will use basic resources (recycled and/or reused items in the classroom, home, or their community) to engineer a solution to the growing problem of waste in our schools.
- Nurdle Know-How: A STEM Exploration into Plastic Pollution: Students examine the nature of the problem and work collaboratively to create solutions to the issue of nurdles becoming evermore present in our oceans. Nurdles are small plastic resin pellets which are used to make many of the plastics we use every day. Unfortunately, they end up where they are not supposed to and cause a wide range of problems. Nurdle Know-How is a series of activities that will ultimately prepare students to design and build a nurdle capture system to clean up their local bay, harbor, or coastal waters.
- Microbeads STEM Design Challenge:
As the name suggests, microbeads are very small (microscopic) beads of plastic. Since they are particles of less than 1mm, they are almost impossible to capture as they enter household drains. This leaves these small, solid balls of plastic to enter our aquatic ecosystems where they are ingested by organisms and accumulated within the food web. In this activity, students are challenged to design and construct their own device to extract microplastics from cosmetic products such as facial cleansers, body wash, and toothpaste.
- ReThink Your Plastic: Students will follow the engineering design process to design and create solutions to plastic packaging problems. They will create and adapt suitable and sustainable designs that will consider alternatives to plastic packaging for example juice boxes, plastic straws, straw wrappers, bin liners, and single-use containers.
- Product Lifecycle: In this investigative assessment, students describe the life cycle of man-made products that include or originate from plastic and other materials, and evaluate how they may impact the environment. Students use a basic life cycle assessment – similar to assessments used by process engineers – that allows them to identify and order the different steps in the life cycle of a product. Using their analyses to compare the impacts of different products,
students develop ideas to reduce the environmental impact of the production process or lifecycle of the product.
- Play with rePurpose: Play with rePurpose is a series of activities that will ultimately prepare your students to design and build playground installations made from repurposed plastic materials. We have provided pre-design challenges so your students have the knowledge and step by step guidance they need to design the repurposed playground, including the design, creation, and testing of one piece of equipment made from PET bottles. This guide provides students with an opportunity for an integrated STEM approach to teaching and learning.
Science Standards
NGSS:
MS-PS1-3 Matter and its Interactions
Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.
MS-ESS3-3 Earth and Human Activity
Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.*
MS-ETS1-1 Engineering Design
Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
MS-ETS1-2 Engineering Design
Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
MS-ETS1-3 Engineering Design
Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.
MS-ETS1-4 Engineering Design
Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.
Australian Standards:
Science
› ST2‑4WS investigates their questions and predictions by analyzing collected data, suggesting explanations for their findings, and communicating and reflecting on the processes undertaken
› ST2‑5WT applies a design process and uses a range of tools, equipment, materials, and techniques to produce solutions that address specific design criteria
› ST2‑13MW identifies the physical properties of natural and processed materials, and how these properties influence their use
› ST2‑14BE describes how people interact within built environments and the factors considered in their design and construction
Mathematics
› MA2‑1WM uses appropriate terminology to describe, and symbols to represent mathematical ideas
› MA2‑2WM selects and uses appropriate mental or written strategies, or technology, to solve problems
› MA2-5NA uses mental and written strategies for addition and subtraction involving two-, three-, four- and five-digit numbers
› MA2-6NA uses mental and informal written strategies for multiplication and division
› MA2‑9MG measures, records, compares and estimates lengths, distances, and perimeters in meters, centimeters, and millimeters, and measures compares and records temperatures
› MA2‑10MG measures, records, compares and estimates areas using square centimeters and square meters
› MA2-18SP selects appropriate methods to collect data, and constructs compares, interprets and evaluates data displays, including tables, picture graphs, and column graphs