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Dear Teachers,
I strongly encourage you to take on a project such as Thinkquest. Each time I've participated, I've had such a wonderful experience with my students. It has opened their world and mine. Their creativity is amazing, their enthusiasm so rewarding, and their artwork absolutely charming. Working together to create this web site, our team tackled a real-world issue that is truely relevant to their lives. They had to be creative, resourceful and collaborative in overcoming the obstacles that arose, whether technical or social in nature. The knowledge they took away from this project will benefit them forever. For me, this is the best of teaching and the best of learning. |
Thinkquest - Thinkquest.org provides wonderful support for the teacher/coach throughout the process. You will have access to evaluation criteria rubrics, timelines, coaching guides, and software support. I won't try to reproduce that here, but please visit our page to see how we did it.
Click here to see Our Web Project
A short Marine Debris Unit follows: This unit is suitable for Upper Elementry. Depending on the availabiliy of resources and classroom design, the teacher could adapt this to a group or individual activity. Some or all of the lessons could be used, and the level of complexity changed to fit other grade levels. |
Marine Debris Unit
1. Learning about Marine Debris in Your Area -
- Students will gather information about marine debris in their area/state/country.
- They will access multipe resources such as the Internet, local newspapers (stories about marine debris kept turning up in our newspaper on a fairly regular basis), magazines, and books.
- They will find out what date is planned for the next local coastal cleanup (give a reward to the first group/person to find out).
- Products:
- a list of at least three references regarding marine debris.
- a poster depicting the dangers of marine debris.
| Product |
Proficient |
Satisfactory |
Needs Improvement |
| Page of References |
Four or more references are listed. They are highly relevent to the topic of marine debris, and are correctly and completely cited. The references come from multiple sources, ie. Internet, newspaper, magazine. |
At least three references are listed. They are relevent to the topic of marine debris. The references are correctly cited, with most of the information provided. At least two different sources were used. |
Less than three references are lised, or they are not relevant to marine debris. There are significant omissions in the citations, or only one type of source is cited. |
| Marine Debris Poster |
The poster has a persuasive message about marine debris. It is attractive, with a lot of meaningful detail. |
The poster has a message about marine dabris. It displays some detail about marine debris. |
The poster has no message about marine debris, or it is not relevant. There is little detail. |
2. Making a Glossary, Games and Puzzles -
- Students will gather definitions about marine debris topics from their previous references.
- Students will create a glossary of twelve words that they think relate to marine debris.
- Students will create a game/puzzle using the glossary words. The game will be created on-line or by hand, depending on resources available. (Suggestions for games include: crossword puzzles, scrambled word puzzles, scrambled sentences puzzles, "close task" paragraphs (missing words), board games, mazes).
- Products:
- a glossary of fifteen words related to marine debris.
- a game/puzzle about marine debris that uses the glossary words.
| Product |
Proficient |
Satisfactory |
Needs Improvement |
| Marine Debris Glossary |
Glossary includes more than twelve words. The words are significantly related to marine debris. The definisions are accurate and substantial, with example sentences. The glossary is neatly written or typed. |
Glossary includes twelve words that are related to marine debris. The definitions are accurate. |
Less than twelve words are included. Definitions are incomplete or incorrect. |
| Student Created Game |
The game/puzzle is creative, and strongly highlights marine debris concerns. It includes at least twelve of the glossary words. |
The game/puzzle is relevant to marine debris. It includes at least eight of the glossary words. |
The game/puzzle is incomplete, doesn't relate to marine debris, or has less than 5 of the vocabulary words. |
3. Marine Debris Reports -
- Students will draft a brief report describing three ways marine debris is hazardous, what the situation is locally, and three ways that they can or do help reduce marine debris.
- Students will peer edit/self-edit their reports (or the teacher may edit)
- Students will write final draft of report, either hand-written or typed with imported images, depending on resources available.
- Product: a report about marine debris.
| Product |
Proficient |
Satisfactory |
Needs Improvement |
| Marine Debris Report |
Report is accurate and detailed, with compelling examples of the dangers of marine debris. The topic is well organized and there are minimal grammatical/spelling errors. |
Report is accurate with some details and examples provided. The report has some basic organization and grammatical/spelling errors do not affect the understandability of the report. |
Report is incomplete or provides no details or examples about marine debris. Organization, grammatical/spelling errors significantly affect the quality of the report. |
4. Marine Debris Dioramas -
- Students will create a diorama depicting the dangers of marine debris, or how people can help prevent marine debris. (individual, paired, or group activity)
- Product: a diorama depicting marine debris issues
| Product |
Proficient |
Satisfactory |
Needs Improvement |
| Marine Debris Diorama |
Diorama is creative, attractive, with a lot of detail. It tells a compelling message about marine debris. |
Diorama has adequate detail to tell a message about marine debris. |
Diorama is not relevant to marine debris, or is poorly constructed, with little detail. |
5. Community Awareness Project - Seriously, Spreading the Word is what It's All About!
- Community Poster Display - Students will display their marine debris posters in a public setting (contact your local schools, parks, shopping centers, library, civic center).
- Public Speaking - Students can announce winners for the poster contest/share information about marine debris/promote a penny drive/create a skit/participate at a marine debris "booth" at their school/other local schools or community centers. (Such activities can be very daunting for some students, and they should not be pushed beyond what they can handle.)
- Marine Debris Penny Drive - Students will collect money, to be donated to the Ocean Conservancy International Coastal Cleanup, to sponsor a cleanup team, at <http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/PageServer?pagename=press_icc> or to another marine conservation organization in your area.
- Coastal Cleanup Event - Students will organize or participate in a coastal cleanup project in their community. (Access the Ocean Conservancy at <http://www.oceanconservancy.org> for information about cleanup activities scheduled for your area, and for local contacts.)
- Product: Student participation
| Product |
Proficient |
Satisfactory |
Needs Improvement |
| Student Participation |
The student actively and enthusiastically partipated in all community awareness events. The student's words and actions reflect a strong committment to the cause of marine conservation/stewardship. |
The student willingly participated in most community awareness events. The student's words and actions reflect an understanding of the issues concerning marine debris. |
The student was unwilling to particpate in most community awareness events. The student's words and actions reflect little understanding of the issues concerning marine debris. |
6. Global Marine Debris Study - (for the older students)
- Students will select five countries that are affected by marine debris. Marine debris data will be gathered for those countries from the Ocean C onservancy 2005 International Coalstal Cleanup Data at http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8635
- Students will select one parameter from the data, such as total weight collected, or % of total for the main type of debris collected. Students will create a bar graph of the data (by hand, or using spreadsheet/graphing software, depending on resources available).
- Students will select another parameter such as % adult smokers, % or weights/amounts of recycled products. They will make a prediction or hypothesis about the data before they collect. They will gater data for their countries from different sources, and will create another bar graph of the data.
- Students will compare the two bar graphs and write two paragraphs, one a statement of the results, the other, discussing their observations/conclusions.
- Product: A scientific report that includes the list of countries, the parameters studied, the hypothesis, two bar graphs, the results and conclusion paragraphs.
| Product |
Proficient |
Satisfactory |
Needs Improvement |
| Scientific Report |
Report has all required elements. It is neat and well organized. The parameters selected are highly relevant to marine debris. The graphs are correctly created and accurately labeled. The results are correct and clearly explained, the conclusion demonstrates thoughtful understanding about the issues of marine debris, and further areas of study are proposed. |
Report has all required elements. It is adequately organized. The parameters selected are relevant to marine debris. The graphs are created and labeled with only minor errors. The results are correct, the conclusion demonstrates basic understanding about the issues of marine debris. |
Report does not have all of the required elements. It is poorly organized. The parameters selected are not relevant to marine debris. The graphs are incorrect or have significant errors. The results are incorrect, the conclusion demonstrates little understanding about the issues of marine debris. |
7. Let's Have Some Fun With This! - Have a "Marine Debris Day" in your classroom or school!
- give awards for student posters,
- have the students complete their peers' puzzles/games
- have a campus clean-up "sweep"
- have a fishing game of toys/"debris" in a small plastic pool
- have a "who can cut up the 6-pack rings the fastest" contest
- have a "pick-up-the-debris" race or relay race on your playground
- have a "debris hoops" game, where you try to score at the basketball court with plastic bottles, aluminum cans, etc.)
- creative arts with marine debris - sculptures/fine art
- please see this web site showing a "painting" done entirely with marine debris! "Flotsam and Jetsam," <http://www.pritchettcartoons.com/flotsam.htm>
- styrofoam "modern art" sculptures
- marine debris mobiles
- I met an elderly man once, who made beautiful "roses," by twisting 6-pack rings onto wooden skewers. Blunt the tips, and have your students try this. You could paint them, if you can find a paint that sticks to plastic.
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Some Basic Resources: (for a more complete list, please see our citation page)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "NOAA's Marine Debris Program." <http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/>
The Ocean Conservancy. "International Coastal Cleanup." <http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/PageServer?pagename=press_icc&JServSessionIdr001=7sentmqon1.app1b>
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Habitat Protection: Marine Debris Abatement: Trash in our Oceans--You Can Be Part of the Solution." <http://www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/debris/>
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Turning the Tide on Trash: Marine Debris Curriculum." <http://www.epa.gov/owow/OCPD/Marine/contents.html>
To Create Games:
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