Format
1. This program begins with a introduction to EarthEcho and our guest host.
2. We then discuss what is plastic and where does it come from?
3. We view photos of impacts of plastics in the ocean.
4. Participants learn about solutions to plastic use and what they can do.
5. Time is allowed for questions and answers.
Objectives
The participant will:
- understand different categories of plastic there are in the world;
- understand how their actions impact the environment, especially when involving plastic;
- suggest improvement methods to solve the problem of plastic waste for my community and beyond.
Standards Alignment
National Standards
NGSS
MS-ESS3-2. Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.
MS-ESS3-3. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
ESS3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems • Human activities have significantly altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging or destroying natural habitats and causing the extinction of other species. But changes to Earth’s environments can have different impacts (negative and positive) for different living things. • Typically as human populations and per-capita consumption of natural resources increase, so do the negative impacts on Earth unless the activities and technologies involved are engineered otherwise.
MS-ESS3-4. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems.
OCEAN LITERACY PRINCIPLES
Principle 6: The ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected.
- The ocean affects every human life. It supplies freshwater (most rain comes from the ocean) and nearly all Earth’s oxygen. The ocean moderates the Earth’s climate, influences our weather, and affects human health.
- Everyone is responsible for caring for the ocean. The ocean sustains life on Earth and humans must live in ways that sustain the ocean. Individual and collective actions are needed to effectively manage ocean resources for all.