Why 99% of Ocean Plastic Pollution is "Missing"
Videos
Grades6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12Science
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Provided by Vox
What it is
- This video from Vox describes the reservoirs of plastic in the ocean: garbage patches, coastlines, seafloor microplastics, and seafloor macroplastics.
- Viewers are left with actions they can take to address the global oceanic plastic problem such as beach clean-ups, recycling and reducing the use of plastic.
Teaching tips
Positives
- This video uncovers an enormous environmental challenge that is not always visibly apparent to individuals, especially those who live far from coastlines.
- The video provides nice graphs and images to help students understand the marine plastic debris problem.
- Scientific methods for measuring ocean plastic are described, and solutions to mitigate plastic pollution are discussed.
Prerequisites
- Students should be familiar with the concepts of macro- and micro- to understand the plastic pollution issue.
- Students should be reminded that plastic production and use is a recent phenomenon of the past century.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Even if students do not live near a coastline, they can consider how their plastic may end up in the ocean. Having students complete a plastic use audit can be helpful for them to understand their individual impact.
- Consider having students make predictions before watching the video about where and in what form oceanic plastic is found.
- Students can also explore the resource, Why We Need to Stop Plastic Pollution in Our Oceans for Good.
From the scientist review
This resource is a 9-minute video that examines the fate of plastic pollution in our oceans. The resource examines the types of pollution found in the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch and looks at differences between microplastic and macroplastic pollution. The resource concludes with some actions we all can take to reduce plastic pollution. This resource is recommended for teaching.
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