Hey there. In the Sunshine textbook that is used by 3rd graders, there is a program (unit) which revolves around plastic pollution and The Ocean Cleanup project. Its quite a difficult topic, especially for students who are not so exposed to all things around the world. It is also much more difficult for them to do so in a foreign language. So we decided to cover this topic a little more so that our students can get a better understanding of the topic.
This activity takes about 20-25 minutes, but you can definitely make it longer by giving students more time to discuss about the topic or share about their ideas.
One requirement is that they must have already completed the reading in the textbook, so they can draw links to the content being presented.
I mainly used two videos as my main teaching material. The first being an explanation on how the screens that Boyan invented works, and the second being a video by Mark Rober on another initiative by The Ocean Cleanup project. Mark also does a great job at explaining how this idea works, along with providing educational insights to the students.
The flow of the presentation is as such:
- Recap on what they've learned in the textbook. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Boyan Slat (I also made them guess how old Boyan is now), and his invention.
- Video 1: How his invention works. (System 3)
- Back to slides. Shared about Mr Beast and Mark Rober, along with their initiative: Team Seas
- Talked about the background of the second video: Where Mr Beast and Mark are having a challenge to see who can collect more trash.
- Show video 2: To stop at around 5:25 of the video. Students are asked to fill in Q1 and Q2 on their worksheet.
- Students to think of some ideas they have to combat plastic pollution. Share with their groups or the class
- I used the last prompt to get them thinking. Because in the second part of the video by Mark, he really did a great job with investigating the source of the pollution, along with providing some insights on the situation.
I really like the video by Mark because:
1: Boyan is in the video, which allows students to draw a link to the content they studied. (The Ocean Cleanup Project, Boyan's story)
2: Mark does a great job at keeping the video fun while educational.
3: He also provides good insights, especially in the second part of the video on the source of the pollution, which really got students thinking about the issue beyond whose fault it is.
Additionally, I used the dashboard that can be found on The Ocean Cleanup Project's website, it also comes along with some stats to show the current progress of Boyan's initiative. Pretty good way to get students thinking.
Explaining about system 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJvVpP3yt9M
Mark Rober's "This robot eats trash": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXDx6DjNLDU
PPT and worksheet used attached