Who Wants a Plastic Planet?
Grades4, 5Earth and Space Sciences
What it is
This article explains the problem with plastic, including single-use plastics, microplastics and nanoplastics, plastic fibers from laundry, and why most plastic is not recycled.
Students learn about solutions to the plastic problem, including actions they can take.
Teaching tips
Prerequisites:
Consider pre-teaching vocabulary words, such as landfill, decompose, and enzyme.
Classroom Implementation:
Use this article in lessons about responsible consumption, plastic pollution, or community health.
Interdisciplinary Connections:
Math:
Extend the idea of being a trash can detective by having students collect and graph data about what types of plastics are in their trash.
Ready to use it?
Hosted on kids.mongabay.com
Want this to fit your class?
Add your location for local examples, questions, and action ideas.
