Human Impacts—Pathways to the Ocean

Summary: Students investigate the ways in which plastics and other persistent debris get into rivers and the ocean.

Concepts to teach: Watershed, downstream, litter

Goals: Students recognize that their use and disposal method of plastic and other waste products can have an impact on aquatic and marine ecosystems both locally and far away.

Standards:
SS.03.GE.01
SS.05.GE.01, SS.05.GE.07

Specific Objectives:

1. Trace a potential pathway of plastic marine debris from school to the ocean through both a water and land route.
2. Identify several points along the pathway which can intercept plastic pollutants before they make it to a river or ocean.

Activity Links and Resources:

• Telling the Story: Fifth graders at Millicoma intermediate School created a PSA YouTube video that tells the story of how a plastic bottle cap gets into the ocean.
• Plastic Bag – A Mockumentary—This four-minute video tells the tale of a plastic bag’s journey from an inland supermarket to the ocean. Caution: Younger students may take the dramatic positive-sounding narration and music literally instead of seeing it as a spoof.
  • Consider playing the video without sound and having students describe what they see is going on.
  • Stop the video periodically and brainstorm ideas for how to intercept the bag at various stages along the journey.
• Creative Writing—Students write a realistic fiction story explaining the travels and experiences of a waste product that travels from their school to the ocean.
  • Action: Have the student write a ‘happy ending’ to the story, where an action or intervention stops the pollutant from actually making it to the ocean.

Assessment:

• Probe: Plastics on the Trail—This probe from Alaska Sea Grant’s Alaska Seas and Watersheds Curriculum elicits students’ ideas about how a plastic bottle on a trail impacts the environment.
• Probe: Connections to the Ocean—Explores student ideas about connections between Oregon communities and the ocean.
• Using both a map and written instructions, have students describe a water route from a nearby stream to the ocean.

Impacts—Phenology

Summary: Phenology is the study of periodic, seasonal biological phenomena that are often correlated with climatic conditions. Examples include the timing of plant flowering or bird migration. Changes in climate can result in phenophase shifts that can in turn affect the way ecosystems function. In this topic guide, students observe the timing of a local cyclic event, and compare their observations to historical records. They use evidence to support whether or not the timing of a natural event has changed, and identify how changed in phenology might affect communities.

Concepts to teach:

• Crosscutting Concepts
  • Stability and Change
• Disciplinary Core Ideas
  • LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning and Resilience
• Science Practices
  • Engaging in argument from evidence

Goals:

1. Patterns of periodic biological phenomena and events are predictable from year to year
2. The timing of phenological events can change, particularly in response to changes in climate

Standards: NGSS Performance Expectations

• MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.

Specific Objectives:
Students will be able to:

1. Identify a phenological event in the local community, and make first-hand observations about the timing of the event
2. Compare the observed timing of the event with historical records
3. Identify some of the actual or potential local impacts of phenophase changes

Activity Links and Resources:

• Readings:
  • The Oregon Climate Change Adaptation Framework, 2010—Forecasts a shift in species distribution (p. 49-54) as a result of climate change, and identifies actions such as: “…monitor change in natural systems, and to monitor and map plant species distributions”
  • Birds and Climate Change—This 2009 report shows that many bird species are moving north.
  • Article: Scientists use TOPP data to model how the distribution of whales, sharks, seabirds and tuna could be affected by climate change.
• Lesson Plans from the University of Maine Signs of the Seasons—Designed for middle and high school students in New England, these lessons can be adapted to Oregon species and used with younger students.
  • Phenology Snapshots—Students conduct an investigation using historical photographic records to determine whether the timing of plant phenophases has changed in their own communities
  • Festival Dates—Compare celebrations of past and present seasonal festivals
  • Mapping and Graphing Your Phenology Observations
• Project BudBurst—Citizen scientists monitor plants as the seasons change. Educator section provides implementation suggestions and standards connections.
• Riverscalendar—In this project, volunteers document the emergence of adult mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies in Oregon rivers, and share the information on iNaturalist

Assessment:

• Assessment and extension ideas are included in the Signs of the Seasons lesson plans.
• Did you find evidence that the timing of a natural event has changed over time? Explain what you found and what you think it means.

Human Use of Resources—Plastics Around Us

Summary: How do we use plastic in our daily lives? What are the properties of different types of plastics, and what do we do with plastic when we are done with it? Students investigate these questions through hands on activities.

Concepts to teach: Plastic, single-use plastic, biodegradable, recycling

Goals: Students gain an appreciation for the many ways in which we use plastic in our daily lives, and define single-use, recycled, recyclable and contaminated plastic. Students identify where and how household plastics can be reduced, reused, or recycled before they leave the classroom.

Standards:
S3.3S.1, S3.3S.2, S3.4D.2
S4.2P.1, S43S.1, S4.3S.2, S4.4D.3
S5.3S.1, S5.3S.2, S5.4D.3
SS.05GE.07

Specific Objectives:

1. Make a list of all the plastic found in a school or home environment.
2. Define and identify examples of single-use, multi-use, recycled, recyclable and contaminated plastic.
3. Describe three ways to reduce the amount of plastics that get thrown “away.”

Activity Links and Resources:

• Plastics in Daily Life—In this lesson plan from OSU Chemical Engineering Department, students survey their own use of plastic, learn about the properties of different kinds of plastic, and sort plastics according to their recycling number.
• Kids Science Challenge: KSC Lesson Plans
  • Packaging 101—Students examine different types of packaging, understand which types are recyclable, and explore practices that go into sustainable packaging.
  • Lunch Weigh In– Students collect data to measure the amount of waste generated from disposable lunch bags.
• ThinkGreen—This website has several K-12 lesson plans and videos on the topic of waste and recycling, including:
  • Lesson 1: What is in our Trash?—Students examine items to determine what they are made of–glass, paper, plastic, or metal.
  • Lesson 2
    • Sorting it Out: Metals—Students explore how physical properties are used to sort recyclable materials efficiently.
    • Sorting it Out: Plastics—After describing the look and feel of plastic samples, students complete an investigation to determine their relative densities.
    • Paper Recycling—Students learn the cycle of products; their consumption, recycling into new products, their resale manufactures to create new products and ultimately their resale to consumers.
  • Lesson 3: The Energy of Decay—Students explore how decaying organic matter can be harvested as a source of energy.
• Life Cycles of Plastic
  • For how long are common household plastics used? Develop a survey or worksheet for students to gauge the time a given piece of plastic is used in their home. Compare results as a class and discuss the differences between single-use vs multi-use plastics, cheap vs sturdy plastics, etc.
  • Life Cycle Assessment lesson plan—This lesson from Teach Engineering is designed for grades 6-8, but it may be brought down to upper elementary level and/or used for teacher background information. Students learn about product life cycle assessment and the flow of energy through the cycle, comparing it to the flow of nutrients and energy in the life cycle of an organism.

Assessment:

• Create a KWL chart for plastics.
• Students sort a variety of plastic objects according to type or number, and give written or oral justifications about why thy put each object where they did.
• Students create posters illustrating three specific ways to reduce the amount of plastics in the garbage.

Stewardship—Protected Areas

Summary: Marine resources can be conserved through the establishment of National Marine Sanctuaries, Marine Protected Areas, and other protections. Students will learn about the importance of and controversies surrounding these protected areas.

Concepts to teach: National Marine Sanctuary, Marine Protected Area, conservation

Goals: Students learn about spatial planning issues affecting marine environments in Oregon, and how they affect ecosystem health, natural resource availability, and the economy.

Standards:
S7.2E.1
SS.08.SA.01

Specific Objectives:

1. Locate and compare National Marine Sanctuaries and Marine Protected Areas in Oregon.
2. Identify the habitats and species most affected by these protections.
3. Describe how protected areas affect the fishing community.

Activity Links and Resources:

• Exploring Sanctuaries—This NOAA lesson from National Marine Sanctuaries focuses on diverse marine ecosystems and resource protections.
• Common Ground—These online videos about Marine Protected Areas in Oregon describe highlight the diversity in views among stakeholders.
• Oregon Marine Reserves Partnership – Find out where Oregon’s marine reserves are located, what makes them special, and how to learn more about what is happening inside them.
• Hold a debate about the effect Marine Protected Areas have or may have on the fishing industry.

Assessment:

• Poster and oral presentations included in the Exploring Sanctuaries curriculum.

Planning—Protecting Wetlands

Summary: Plants living in the ocean have a tremendous role to play in carbon storage, and salt marshes are particularly good at storing carbon because the plants decompose so slowly. This topic guide focuses on the role marine wetlands play in carbon sequestration. Students visit a local wetland to better understand what ecological services it may provide, and then share the information with others who can help prioritize wetlands protection and restoration efforts.

Concepts to teach:

• Crosscutting Concepts
  • Energy and Matter
• Disciplinary Core Ideas
  • LS1.C – Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
  • ESS3.C – Human Impacts on Earth Systems
• Science Practices
  • Engaging in argument from evidence; Obtaining, evaluating and communication information

Goals:

1. Through photosynthesis, plants take in and store carbon dioxide from the air
2. Salt marshes store a lot of carbon because the organic material is slow to decompose
3. Wetlands provide a variety of ecosystem services, including sequestering carbon

Standards: NGSS Performance Expectations

• 5-LS1-1. Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.

Specific Objectives
Students will be able to:

1. Describe the role marine wetlands play in storing carbon
2. Describe the many other ecological services provided by wetlands

Activity Links and Resources:

• Activity: Photosynthesis and Carbon Storage from Lesson 1.2 in the Bringing Wetlands to Market curriculum explores how wetlands function to sequester carbon, and includes the following resources:
  • Video: Two Minutes on Oceans with Jim Toomey: Blue Carbon—A very quick but thorough description of what “Blue Carbon” is and why marine coastal wetlands are important carbon sinks.
  • Reading: Blue Carbon Fact Sheet
• Activity: Wetlands and their Ecological Services from Lesson 1.3 in the Bringing Wetlands to Market curriculum explores different types of wetlands and the ecological services they provide.
  • Wetland Ecological Services from Oregon Explorer
• Activity: Visit a local wetland and observe the realized or potential ecological services it provides, including but not limited to its ability to capture and store carbon from the atmosphere. Invite a community partner involved in wetland restoration efforts to share local information about wetlands protection efforts.
• Resource: Oregon’s Major Wetland Types—Identify different types of wetlands in Oregon, and visit one or more wetlands during the school year. Compare and contrast freshwater and saltwater wetland areas. Depending on the location of your school, it may be easier to visit freshwater wetlands more frequently.

Assessment:

• Students create and share with others presentations that describe the role a local wetland has in sequestering excess carbon from the atmosphere. Examples of presentations may include a poster, a theatrical interpretation of the carbon cycle, a slide presentation, video, PSA, etc.