Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: The longest lunch ever

25 minutes

Find Out: Investigating plastics in your lunchbox

20 minutes

Take Action: Great Pacific Garbage Patch soup

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions:

Students will...

recognise the different types of plastics that are found in lunchboxes and where they may end up if they are not reused or recycled.

Success criteria:

Students can...

identify what the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is and where it came from
articulate how our everyday choices impact on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
articulate how we can choose to use plastic in a more sustainable way

Tune In: The longest lunch ever

Preparation: Prior to beginning this lesson:

Write on the squares of recycled/scrap paper the time it takes to break down or if the item can be recycled or reused (+ 10 year, +2 months, +8 months, +25 years, +50 years, never, RECYCLE, REUSE). Make sure that you have the correct number of items to match the paper squares. Use the following image to guide you: How Long Til It's Gone?
Place a table at the front of the classroom for the creation of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch soup. Collect the equipment needed for the eco-cooking session and arrange it on the table.

Step 1

Begin the lesson by explaining to students that they will be exploring the different types of items that might be found in our lunchboxes. One-by-one, pull out the different items from the prepared lunchbox and facilitate a guided discussion around these items using the questions below:

What is this item?
Do you ever have this item in your own lunchbox?
What are the items made of?
If this item has any plastic in it, can the plastic items be used only once?
Which items in the lunchbox could be recycled?
Which of these items do you think would break down or biodegrade the quickest?
Which of these items do you think would break down or biodegrade the slowest?

Step 2

Now explain to students that they are going to investigate the length of time each of these items takes to breakdown, as well as determining which of these items are reusable or recyclable.

Using the prepared squares of paper with the time annotated (+10 years etc.) explain to students that they are going to match up the rubbish/recyclable items with the correct paper square. Choose students individually to match the paper squares with the item. Encourage students to justify why the assigned the paper square with the item.

Step 3

After all of the matches have been made, reveal the correct matches for each of the items. Discuss why these items may take longer than others, for example:

Paper - Paper is a natural material and is made using water, so will break down quickly when it comes into contact with water.
Aluminium - Aluminium is a natural material too; however it has been heavily processed, so will take longer to break down.
Plastic - Plastic is an artificial substance. It will never really break down, but instead just breaks into smaller and smaller pieces. The thickness of plastic of the original piece of plastic will generally determine how long it will take to break down, for example, thicker pieces of plastic generally take longer to break down.
Plastic - If plastic has recycling symbols the material can be transformed into new materials once it has been recycled.

Note: Not all councils will recycle all types of plastic. You can check with your local council to find out which types of plastic you can recycle in your area.

Step 4

Now, display the following image to the class and read through the associated text (images and text also available on the Student Worksheet):

bluetim-silverwood-plastic-beachuntitled1-388-3700pxv2

(Image source: https://bluethefilm.org/)

Explain to students that this is a remote beach on an island in Hawaii, and even though hardly anyone visits the beach, the beach is covered in plastic. Some of the plastic you can see and identify, while other pieces are almost as small as pieces of sand. These are known as microplastics. Display the following image:

(Image source: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast/june16/dd66-microplastics.html)

Explain to the students that microplastics are very small pieces of plastic. They are formed by larger pieces of plastic breaking down in our environment. However, some of the products that we use also have tiny pieces of plastic in them: some beauty products and toothpastes have microbeads in them (tiny pieces of plastic) that enter the environment when they get washed down the sink. In the ocean we find microplastics floating in the water and in the sand. They are eaten by a range of sea animals, and can become stuck in their stomachs. This can harm the animal and if we consume the animal it can harm us.

Step 5

Through a class discussion, invite students to consider the following questions:

What hard plastics are found in your lunchbox?
Do you have a bottle cap?
Do you have any hard pieces of plastic on yoghurt containers?
Or do you have a squeezable yoghurt packet with a hard top or lid?
What is your lunch box made of?
Could any of these plastic products become microplastics?
Are any of these hard pieces of plastic recyclable?

Find Out: Investigating Plastics in your Lunchbox

Step 1

Students investigate the physical properties of lunchbox plastics. Create a Venn diagram on the board like the one below:

Using the Venn diagram, work as a class to compare and contrast the differences between the plastics found in your lunch boxes. Invite students to write in the circles how each of the plastics are different and fill the centre overlap with the similarities of the two different types of plastics. For example:

Through this activity, lead students to the following questions:

What ocean friendly alternatives might there be?
What would we use instead of plastic?

Suggest the following ideas to students: paper, cornstarch, bamboo, fabric, etc.

Step 2

As a class watch the following clip, explaining to students that this clip shows us how single use and non recycled plastics are a global problem:

Corporate responsibility (https://vimeo.com/1056609430/02c62611af)

Once complete, invite students to share their thoughts about this clip. Consider the following questions:

What did you see in this clip?
What do you think this clip was about?
What does Tim say we should do about plastic?
What did you find important or interesting about this clip?
What questions does this clip leave you with?

Take Action: Great Pacific Garbage Patch soup

Preparation: Print the Great Pacific Garbage Patch Soup - Instructions. Note: you will need all the materials listed on this sheet. Reuse the following graphic: How Long Til It's Gone?

Step 1

This activity is a whole class demonstration. Set up your equipment as you would see on a cooking show. To make this soup you will need to have four student volunteers to assist in the creation of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch soup. It is best to rotate through a few groups of four volunteers for this eco-cooking session to allow greater hands on participation.

Step 2

Follow the recipe and instructions for the soup here: Great Pacific Garbage Patch Soup - Instructions.

Step 3

After the soup has been served, facilitate a class discussion by asking students:

What creatures would like to live in this seawater?
What creatures could eat it?
What would happen if marine creatures ate the soup?
What would happen if we ate the soup?

Continue the class discussion about what choices can we make each and every day. Pose the following question to students:

How can we choose to use plastic in a more sustainable way?

Suggested answers could include:

Reusable containers
Recycling products with the symbol
Putting it into the correct bin for recycling (don’t mix it up)
Avoiding single use plastics
Taking your own reusable bag when going shopping
Using a reusable drink bottle

Reflection

Invite students to work independently to answer the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

How is what I learnt today connected to what I already knew?
What new ideas have extended my thinking or pushed my thoughts in new directions?
What is still challenging for me? What questions do I now have?

Assessment

Teachers can use the following items as part of their formative assessment:

Using the Venn Diagram to identify the different properties between different plastics and how these impact the environment.
Class discussions and participation in the creation of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch Soup.

For summative assessment, visit the Drawing Conclusions lesson - Blue: Ripples of Change - Years 3 & 4.

Blue - The Longest Lunch Ever

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Summary

Learning intentions:

Students will...

Success criteria:

Students can...

Lesson guides and printables

Lesson Details

Skills

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Additional Info

Related Professional Learning

In this lesson