Embedded Files
This initiative started with pieces of a puzzle that needed to be put together:
Single-use plastics are one of the major sources of plasic debris in the ocean. Land-based plastic pollution travels through watersheds to the ocean.
Pinellas County is situated in the Tampa Bay watershed and is the most densely populated county in Florida. Activities in Pinellas Countly likely contribute plastic debris to Tampa Bay and throughout the Gulf.
Students in marginalized communities are not getting access to environmental education.
Students in grades 3-5 are in a unique position where they're developmentally able to connect their experiences and interest in nature with complex and interwoven environmental problems.
Elementary students can take action, make changes and become environmental stewards.
To find a solution to these issues, the Reduce Single-Use team and Pinellas County School teachers at 2 elementary schools created an interdisciplinary single-use plastic themed MWEE curriculum with the assistance of a NOAAB-WET grant. The goal was to foster Tampa Bay stewardship among upper grade elementary school students who are acutely aware of their plastic consumption and their role in preventing marine debris within the watershed.
Indoor Activities
Indoor Activities
Students take part in indoor activities, like building a jump rope out of single-use plastic bags. These activities illustrate to the students the inability of plastics to break down and highlights the student's ability to enact change.
Outdoor Activities
Outdoor Activities
They also have the opportunity to go on field trips, like this trip to the Tipping Floor at the Pinellas County Solid Waste and Incinerator. These give students a first-person view of the challenges their commuinities face in managing waste properly.
The goals of this initiative were to design a year-long themed program which meets state standards by tucking watershed and plastic related materials into the existing curriculum. Students in ELA can read about plastic pollution, in science can model plastic flow through a watershed, in math can quantify and graph different types of plastic found during a campus clean up, in art make pieces from found plastic etc.
These activities give students the tools to reduce their single-use plastic usage and become informed at a young age. Moving forward, they will be more knowledgeable of the issues their communities face as well as tangible solutions that can be enacted.
While future goals of this initiative are to bring this curriculum to the entire county, we want to bring materials, year-long projects, and discipline-focused lesson plans direclty to teachers.
Below, you will find all the plans and materials used by teachers who took part in our pilot program. Download, explore, modify and share!
Introduction Material
Introduction Material
During our pilot program, teachers started with an overview of plastic: what it is, how it can be useful, and the problems pollution causes in Tampa Bay, their communities, and the environment. You can find those materials here.
Yearlong Projects
Yearlong Projects
Tap each title to learn more below:
Discipline-Focused Lessons
Discipline-Focused Lessons
Alongside yearlong projects, we created discipline-specific lesson plans. These can also be used to meet existing standards while also learning about single-use plastics.
Any suggested improvements, new lessons to add, or just want to connect?
Email us at reducesingleuse@eckerd.edu
Report abuse