Why 99% of Ocean Plastic Pollution is "Missing"

Provided by: Vox |Published on: April 27, 2021

Videos

6789101112

Scientist Reviewed ↗

Synopsis

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.

Related Teaching Resources

Subjects: Science

Authors: Vox

Region: Global

Languages: English

View Resource

Teaching Materials

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.

Scientist Notes

Teaching Tips

Standards

Resource Type and Format

Scientist Reviewed

This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.

Learn about our review process →

Related Teaching Resources

All resources can be used for your educational purposes with proper attribution to the content provider.

Cookie Preferences

Why 99% of Ocean Plastic Pollution is "Missing"

Synopsis

Teaching Materials

Scientist Reviewed

Related Teaching Resources