Te Reo Pakeha

PLASTIC IN OUR OCEANS!

Students will investigate how much plastic they throw out and find ways to reduce their waste and impact on the environment. Students will learn about the 5 plastic-filled gyres in the world’s seas and how they impact on marine wildlife.

For the last three weeks of this term we will be writing a persuasive text on PLASTIC.
Persuasive writing is important as throughout our lives we are constantly having to persuade people.
When was the last time you had to persuade someone to do something for you? Turn and Talk. Were you able to persuade them? What strategies did you use to persuade them?
Josie Yeager is having to write a persuasive text so that she can go to San Francisco to Stanford University with the Whare Kura, Kehu Butler has to write persuasive texts to apply for funding for his trips overseas...so you see you too will at some stage need to use your powers of persuasion.

Here are some strategies:
We can use bribery: eg if you let me go to Patus house I will do the dishes.
You can use rhetorical questions eg How would you feel if you never got to go anywhere
You can exaggerate: make the issue bigger than it is
You can appeal to the person's judgement eg 'A kind person like you must understand how .....

However, they type of persuasive text you will be looking at does not require these powers of persuasion, as PLASIC pollution is a major world wide problem, and one that we do not need to exaggerate! Since I have started learning about plastic, I see it everywhere...flying around my lawns, in the gutters, grass everywhere! I see at least 50 pieces on my walk to kura each day.
All you require is a strong opening statement, and then the main part will be the evidence to support your argument, and each video that we watch will provide you with all the evidence you require. The problem will be narrowing it down!

YOur focus should include a persuasive text. It can be in poster form or a rap, a powerpoint or movie and it should include the following:

What is the problem: or the stance you are taking eg

Plastic is killing our sea creatures…

What we do here with our plastic affects sea creatures and animals not just here in NZ but all over the world!

When is enough plastic enough?

You then need to provide examples to support this statement.

You will find this information in the videos we watch, each video sometimes leads you to another, as its not just sea creatures who die from plastic, it is birds, cows etc. The examples are the facts, the numbers of sea creatures dying, the pollution in the river, the time it takes plastic to break down, the mercury inside fish….’what we do to the earth we do to ourselves etc….think about it we are poisoning the earth and the sea...posioning the food that we eat!

You then need to provide solutions to the problem eg what are other countries doing? how can we reduce our plastic intake? How can we stop supermarkets using plastic? What can we do at Kura? Is the plastic going in to the right bins? What if we had a container at Bayfair where our plastics went in to and people used them rather than new ones etc

You should then have a final statement summing up your argument!

watch this news story and answer the following questions:

How many pieces of plastic end up in the world’s oceans every day?
How does plastic get into the ocean?
What can happen when plastics stay in the water for a long time?
What are microplastics?
Why are they harmful?
What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
Explain Boyan Slat’s idea to clean up the garbage patch?

What can be done to prevent plastics from reaching the oceans?

Discuss in pairs the effect that plastic which ends up in the ocean has on animals, people and the environment.

Record your responses on a concept map. Then complete

one of the following sentences:

This story made me feel...
Plastic that makes its way into the sea is....
Marine debris is impacting on...
It is surprising that...

YOur focus should include a persuasive text. It can be in poster form or a rap, a powerpoint or movie and it should include the following:

What is the problem: or the stance you are taking eg

Plasic is killing our sea creatures…

What we do here with our plastic affects sea creatures and anilmals not just here in NZ but all over the world!

When is enough plastic enough?

You then need to provide examples to support this statement.

You then need to provide solutions to the problem eg what are other countries doing? how can we reduce our plastic intake? How can we stop supermarkets using plastic? What can we do at Kura? Is the plastic going in to the right bins? What if we had a container at bayfair where our plastics went in to and people used them rather than new ones etc

You should then have a final statement summing up your argument!

Choose a focus for your ocean rubbish inquiry within an area of interest: Here are some ideas to help you:

What is a gyre? Explore the 5 plastic-filled gyres in the world’s seas and how they impact on marine wildlife.

What is meant by the term ‘travelling trash’? Explore the journey of plastic into our oceans. Watch this TED-Ed video to find out what really happens to the plastic you throw away.
What types of study and research are scientists doing to help protect marine ecosystems and wildlife? Explore and explain one study in depth.
What might happen if we don’t look at the marine debris problem? Think about the responsibility of individuals, communities and the government.
Why should we protect our oceans? Write a persuasive piece of writing explaining your reasons.
Marine debris is a significant global issue causing negative ecological, economic and social impacts. Explore and explain these impacts.

Awareness challenge – Are you waste wise?

For one week students (and teacher) will keep a diary to document the amount of plastic they throw away at school and at home on a daily basis.

Class brainstorm

Before starting this challenge, brainstorm the types of plastic you throw away on a daily basis. Share your ideas as a class recording your responses on your classroom whiteboard. For example, cling wrap from your school lunch, plastic shopping bags, straws, water bottles, chip packets and other food packaging.

Audit your waste

On a daily basis, collect and record all your waste that is plastic, including the weight. At the end of the week add up how many pieces of plastic you threw out and the combined weight. Plot your results on a bar graph.

Day	What plastic did you throw away? For example, cling wrap, food packaging, straws, drink bottles	Number of items	Weight of plastic
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday

Analyse your results and respond to the following:

What surprised you about the results?
Identify the best areas for improvement. How could you reduce the amount of plastic you throw away?

Reduce your waste

Do your part to make a change and challenge yourself by going plastic-free for a day or a week.

Think of ways that you can avoid using plastic that you would normally throw away. How can you reduce, reuse, recycle or upcycle plastic? For example, use paper bags to wrap you lunch, purchase milk and juice in cardboard and shop at your local farmers market to avoid pre-packaged food.
Did you find this challenge difficult? Why or why not? Explain.
What plastic-free alternatives did you use during the challenge? Describe.
How has this challenge impacted on your thinking?

Poster design

In small groups or as a class think about the effect that plastic pollution in our oceans has on people, animals and the environment. Record your responses in a mind map, with the sentence “Plastic pollution in our oceans is...” written in the middle.

difficult to cleanup because it breaks down into really small pieces (micro plastics)
killing marine life – species are getting tangled in plastic and are eating the plastic
threatening marine ecosystems
costing a lot of money to cleanup
everyone’s problem (consumers and producers)
affecting the food we eat and our health
making our beaches and oceans dirty which may affect tourism

Design a poster which illustrates one or more of the ways that plastic pollution in our oceans affects people, animals and/or the environment. Display your artworks to celebrate seaweek and raise awareness about the issue.

Upcycling

Watch BtN’s Upcycling Kids story and then talk about upcycling as a class. Have you ever turned your rubbish into treasure? Describe your creations to other students in your class. What materials did you use?

As a class list the benefits of upcycling. Here are some suggestions:

reduces the amount of waste and therefore landfill
reduces the need for production using new or raw materials (therefore reduces air pollution, water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions)
unique, one of a kind products
saves money – for example you could upcycle your clothes into new designs
uses your creativity