
Teacher's Resources
Microplastics- Teacher’s Resource
Objective: For students to explore the current environmental issues in Ontario, Canada and around the world.
Materials Needed:
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Student activity sheets (provided below)
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Computers, phones, tablets, etc.
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Teacher resource (provided)
Time Needed:
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Approximately 1 class period
Prep:
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Complete one of the following lessons:
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Geography: A. Physical Patterns in a Changing World
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Geography: B. Natural Resources around the World: Use and Sustainability
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Science: A. Understanding Structures and Mechanisms
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Science: B. Understanding Matter and Energy
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Book computer lab, computer carts, etc.
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Print off student activity sheets (1 per person)
Guiding Questions:
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Why do different people have different responses to the environment and the opportunities and challenges it presents?
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Why do we need to consider various perspectives when determining the impact of human activities?
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Why would people continue to use methods that contribute to destroying our environment when there are more environmentally safer ways?
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Why is it important for companies to find out what consumers want now and what they might want and/or need in the future?
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What would be the impact on depleted fisheries in a developing nation versus Canada?
Execution:
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Organize students into groups of 3 to 4
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Hand out student activity sheets
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Have students use the provided websites to access the information
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Once students are complete the activity sheet, discuss as a class, or have them hand in (answers are provided for you in the teacher resource, please note, students do not have to answer word for word, as long as they have a general idea)
Integrated Expectations across subject matters:
Language: Reading
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Read and demonstrate an understanding of informational texts using a range of strategies to construct meaning.
Language: Media Literacy
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Use overt and implied messages to draw inferences and construct meaning in media texts;
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Identify whose point of view is presented or reflected in a media text, citing supporting evidence from the text, and suggest how the text might change if a different point of view were used.
Science
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Analyze the effects of human activities on habitats and communities.
Resources used:
Videos
Ewing, B. (Director). (2018). Canada's Plastic Pollution Problem - Take Action [Video file]. Retrieved December 8, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3fcfHgYuZg&feature=emb_title
News, S. (Director). (2018). Dirty Business: What really happens to your recycling [Video file]. Retrieved December 8, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRQLilXLAIU
K. (Director). (2018). Plastic Pollution: How Humans are Turning the World into Plastic [Video file]. Retrieved December 8, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS7IzU2VJIQ
News, C. (Director). (2019). Tracking your plastic: Exposing recycling myths (Marketplace) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8aVYb-a7Uw
Websites
Pope, S. (2020, July 06). Researchers find microplastics in nearly every sample taken in the Eastern Canadian Arctic. Retrieved December 07, 2020, from https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/researchers-find-microplastics-nearly-every-sample-taken-eastern-canadian-arctic
Case - Microplastics. (n.d.). Retrieved December 07, 2020, from http://www.waterkeeper.ca/cases-microplastics
Canada, O. (2020, September 29). Drowning in Plastic: New Report Shows Canada Contributes Disproportionately to the Global Plastic Disaster. Retrieved December 08, 2020, from https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/09/29/2100540/0/en/Drowning-in-Plastic-New-Report-Shows-Canada-Contributes-Disproportionately-to-the-Global-Plastic-Disaster.html
Newspaper Articles
Semeniuk, I. (2020, June 18). Canadian Arctic awash in microplastics, study finds. Retrieved December 07, 2020, from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canadian-arctic-awash-in-microplastics-study-finds/
Desai, D. (2019, August 27). It's raining plastic in Canada, scientists say. But no one knows the source or toxicity. Retrieved December 07, 2020, from https://nationalpost.com/news/its-raining-plastic-in-canada-scientists-say-but-no-one-knows-the-source-or-toxicity
Government Sources
Canada, E. (2020, October 07). Canada one-step closer to zero plastic waste by 2030. Retrieved December 07, 2020, from https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/news/2020/10/canada-one-step-closer-to-zero-plastic-waste-by-2030.html
Canada, H. (2020, October 09). Government of Canada. Retrieved December 07, 2020, from https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/chemical-substances/fact-sheets/chemicals-glance/plastic-pollution.html
Parks Canada Agency, G. (2018, October 25). Microplastics: More than a drop in the ocean. Retrieved December 07, 2020, from https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/nature/science/conservation/plastique-plastic/microplastique-microplastic
JavaScript is required to view this site. (n.d.). Retrieved December 07, 2020, from https://www.ontario.ca/page/microplastics-and-microbeads
Worksheets
Teacher's Resources