Ocean Grade: Adaptable to all levels By: Jill Rivero MA: Science Education For the Wyland Foundation

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1 Conversation about Conservation It Starts With One Grade: Adaptable to all levels By: Jill Rivero MA: Science Education For the Wyland Foundation OBJECTIVE: Students will understand what trash is considered bio-degrade-able and what trash is photo-degrade-able. Students will make a mural using plastic bottle caps after conducting a waterways clean-up. Examples include- lakes, rivers, streams, canal or curb near a storm drain clean-up. PURPOSE: To educate students on the difference between bio-degrade-able and photo-degrade-able trash. Students will learn how to conduct a waterways cleanup and create a mural using bottle caps. VOCABULARY: Plastic, Consumable Goods, Bio-degrade-able, Decompose, Decomposers, Organic Compounds, Oxygen, Carbon, Hydrogen, Ultra Violet Radiation, Photo-degrade-able, Phytoplankton, Zooplankton, Mural, Waterway, Repurpose, Recycle, Reduce, Re-use, Discussion Questions: What is Plastic? What is a Consumable Good? What does it mean to consume something? What does it mean when something is Bio-degrade-able? (Decompose, Decomposers, Organic Compounds, Oxygen, Carbon, Hydrogen) What does it mean when something is Photo-degrade-able? (Ultra Violet Radiation) What is a Waterway? (Rivers, Lakes, Streams, Creeks, Beach) What is Plankton? (Phytoplankton, Zooplankton) What does it mean to recycle? (Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose) What is a Mural? Introduction: In today s society, many people have access to Consumable Goods that can be bought straight off of a shelf in a grocery store, market place or department store, as opposed to items that needed to be grown or made by a family instead of purchased. To be able to buy something pre-made or already ready to eat, use or wear saves us time in the long run, however, it can come with an unfortunate side effect: packaging, usually involving some form of plastic. 1 Bottle Cap Madness It Starts With One

2 Background: It Starts With One The word Plastic was first used in 1925, and was considered an amazing invention at the time. It could form into a strong solid compound, yet be able to bend at the same time and not break. Plastic replaced a lot of breakable items used in packaging such as glass bottles used to hold liquids, such as soda pop, and wood boxes that were used to package and ship multiple items such as bottles of soda pop. Today, plastic is used in almost every packaged item sold, from toys to micro-wave-able burritos to shopping bags. It s literally everywhere, including our water and in our soil. Why? Because plastic is not bio-degrade-able, like wood, paper, or cardboard packaging. Bio-degrade-able means that it will decompose pretty quickly back into organic compounds such as carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, using the aid of decomposers, such as fungi, worms, bugs and bacteria. Plastic breaks down in a process known as photo-degrade-able, which means it breaks down chemically under direct sunlight, which is made up of ultra-violet radiation, into smaller and smaller bits and pieces. These pieces can become so small that they can be swallowed by mistake by animals in our landfills thinking it is food, as well as in our oceans because it resembles phyto- and zooplankton. Animals such as whales that feed mainly on drifting, microscopic organisms known as plankton have been found with their stomachs literally full of un-digest-able plastic pieces. This can lead to starvation if the whales are eating more plastic pieces than food. Anyone studying soil and water should know that plastic isn t going away; it is here to stay. Now what should we do with all this plastic after we are done with it before it breaks down and enters our waterways or our soils? Facts from Buried plastic can last for thousands of years. Small plastic cup can last up to 80 years. The largest plastic waste is composed from plastic bottles. Recycling of plastic is rising but it s still low in comparison to the other recyclable materials such as paper, metal and glass. United States recycles 8% of their plastic and worldwide only 2.45 billion of PET and HDPE bottles were recycled. Americans use over 4 million plastic bottles every hour! Certain environmental groups exist whose goal it is to help clean up the environment. Yet we cannot rely entirely on only some individuals to clean up our mess. We should all understand that there are practices that we can follow to help reduce, re-use or recycle our plastic wastes, including conducting regular beach cleanups, choosing consumer goods wrapped in bio-degrade-able packaging instead of plastic packaging, or choosing to buy in bulk rather than purchasing single use items like a single serving of water in a plastic bottle. Which brings up another point, plastic bottle CAPS. Where do these go after being twisted off of a bottle and thrown away? Data shows that one of our largest plastic trash contributors are plastic water bottle caps. The Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawaii (B.E.A.C.H.) found that plastic bottle caps are one of the top 10 items found during marine debris beach clean-ups and are the second most littered item after cigarette butts. Plastic bottle caps do not break down easily, and can be found on almost every beach in the world or floating just under the surface in our waterways and oceans. They can even be found in soils in the middle of the desert. How do they get there? What could be done with them before they end up as trash, between opening a bottle and throwing them away to be someone else s trash somewhere else? The truth is, they are everyone s trash now, regardless of their origin. According to the California Coastal Commission, Bottle caps are made of a different type of plastic than the bottle itself. Many cities don t recycle bottle caps, so they end up in landfills or enter the ocean through inland waterways. During last year s Coastal Cleanup Day, volunteers removed 48,000 bottle caps. Over 1,400,000 bottle caps were collected since Coastal Cleanup Day began, making them the third most common type of litter. 2 Bottle Cap Madness It Starts With One

3 One idea that was done by the Franklin Park Conservatory was to create a mural from all of the different colored caps found. What an ingenious idea. Hey, these bits of plastic are not going away anyway, so why not make a colorful piece of art out of them while we wait for them to photo-degrade? In all seriousness though, many plastics can have multiple uses, like saving bottle caps to create art with them. Just look below at all the great ways that bottle caps were re-used, or repurposed, by humans to create wonderful modern day art pieces. TIME NEEDED: 30 min Class Prep and Background Research: 2-3 hours for Waterway Cleanup and Mural CLASS PREP and BACKGROUND RESEARCH: 1. Please view the following You Tube videos as a class: FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: view=detail&mid=fbec96be37306a0b6307fbec96be37306a0b6307 view=detail&mid=f13c3b9db33d7acf4427f13c3b9db33d7acf FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL: view=detail&mid=ed5e4f27dd5d050cf08ded5e4f27dd5d050cf08d view=detail&mid=f13c3b9db33d7acf4427f13c3b9db33d7acf4427 view=detail&mid=6b1998b44b460db1d8246b1998b44b460db1d824 view=detail&mid=747f5dba8f faf747f5dba8f faf FOR HIGH SCHOOL: view=detail&mid=ed5e4f27dd5d050cf08ded5e4f27dd5d050cf08d view=detail&mid=747f5dba8f faf747f5dba8f faf As a class, discuss their reaction to the videos and allow time for questions and comments. 3. Complete the activity below as a class in groups of 3 or 4. Answer the questions that follow in complete sentence. 3 Bottle Cap Madness It Starts With One

4 NAME: Date: Period: MATERIALS: wall or open place for mural, bottle caps, sorted by color, drill, screws, boxes for sorting caps by color, plastic or gardening gloves, trash bags, diluted bleach solution or soap for cleaning caps, sharpie, 8 X 11 inch paper PROCEDURE: 1. Visit for ideas and contests on what to do with bottle caps. Make sure to click on and read about the PROBLEM. 2. Visit the following website to see what others are recycling caps around the nation. recyclebank.com/can-you-recycle-bottle-cap 3. Finally, visit the California Coastal Commission website to see all of the different types of trash found in its waterways : WATERWAY CLEANUP: 4. As a class, decide on a nearby waterway that can be cleaned up. Next, decide on a day or weekend where students will be able to volunteer with a friend or parent and conduct a cleanup of that waterway. 5. Have students conduct the cleanup of the waterway and sort the trash into boxes afterwards using plastic or gardening gloves and trash bags, making sure to sort by color and clean all bottle caps using a diluted bleach solution or soap. 6. Have students break into 10 separate groups and sort and count each bit of plastic trash found. Identify the top ten items of plastic trash collected and record this data in the Data Table below and add all trash items for a final count. MURAL DESIGN: 7. Have students break into groups and count each bottle cap by color. Number each cap on the inside using a sharpie. 8. Divide students into groups of 3 or 4 and allow 5-10 minutes of time for them to create a mini version of what they would like the final mural to look like. Have them draw or sketch in color the individual pieces of their ideas onto an 8 x 11 inch paper. 9. Have students show their group ideas to the class and make a final vote on what to place on the final mural. If a student is particularly talented, have this student or students come to the front of the class and combine on a larger piece of butcher paper what the final mural could look like using the class favorite ideas. 10. Finally, measure out on a larger size paper the exact measurements of the Final Mural space. Have students count how many bottle caps it will take to fill the outline of the final mural design. Place numbers along the outline of the mural where each bottle cap will be placed. 11. Next, have students decide or vote on which colors to use for each piece of the final design. Keep in mind some colors will be highly represented and others may not be available due to what color caps were collected. This template will be used to help complete the final mural. FINAL MURAL: 12. Finally, divide the class into groups in charge of different portions of the mural s final design. Have a skilled adult use the drill and screws to place each final cap into place. Don t forget to photograph or video each step along the way! 13. Allow time for students to answer the questions that follow and to write a Summary Conclusion. 4 Bottle Cap Madness It Starts With One

5 DATA TABLE: 5 Bottle Cap Madness It Starts With One

6 INTERPRETING DATA: WATERWAY CLEANUP: 1) What was the most abundant type of plastic trash collected according to your data? Why do you think this is? 2) What was the most abundant color of plastic trash collected according to your data? Why do you think this is? MURAL DESIGN AND FINAL MURAL: 3) What was the most abundant color of bottle cap collected? Why do you think this is? What part of the mural s design did you use this color the most for? 4) If your city did not recycle plastics, what do you think would be the outcome? Could your city do more to help reduce, re-use, or recycle plastics? How so? 5) If you were sent to help people in a country that did not recycle plastics, what would be your idea to help them get started? Would you focus on recycling plastic, or re-using plastic, or reducing plastic usage? 6) What is the difference between recycled plastic and repurposed plastic? 7) What happens to the remaining any plastic that you were not able to collect during your waterway cleanup? 8) Do you have any further ideas on what to do with the plastic bottle caps found during the waterway cleanup, other than creating a class mural with them? 9) Do you have any further ideas on what to do with any of the other kinds of plastic found during the waterway cleanup, other than the bottle caps collected for your class mural? 6 Bottle Cap Madness It Starts With One

7 SUMMARY CONCLUSION: Please write a 3-5 sentence paragraph using at least 5 of the words from the word bank below. Try to describe what happened during this lab according to your data and what you learned from your data. WORD BANK: Plastic, Consumable Goods, Bio-degrade-able, Decompose, Decomposers, Organic Compounds, Oxygen, Carbon, Hydrogen, Ultra Violet Radiation, Photo-degrade-able, Photoplankton, Zooplankton, Mural, Waterway, Repurpose, Recycle, Reduce, Re-use, 7 Bottle Cap Madness It Starts With One

8 water is life 8 Bottle Cap Madness It Starts With One