Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes	Part B: Exploring The Impact Of Plastic Waste In Our Oceans
30 minutes	Part C: An Ocean Of Plastic Art
5 minutes	Reflection

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Step 1.

Begin this lesson by creating a mind-map around the following term: 'Plastic waste'. Invite students to share what they know about this term and record this information in the mind-map. Prompt students with the following (suggested answers included):

I wonder what waste is?
Suggested answer: Waste is any stuff that we no longer want or can use that we throw away into the bin.
I wonder what plastic waste is?
Suggested answer: Plastic waste is any stuff made of plastic that we no longer want or can use.
I wonder what some types of plastic waste are?
Suggested answer: You can find plastic in lots of items, including those around you right now. Tables and chairs are often made of plastic, as are light switches, whiteboards, marker pens, pencil sharpeners, school bags, lunch boxes, drink bottles, some clothes and shoes, carpet, and computers, tablets and phones.
I wonder what we should do with plastic waste?
Suggested answer: Some types of plastic waste can be recycled, while others need to go in the rubbish bin. We should try to never let plastic waste litter our environment.
I wonder why plastic waste is bad for our environment?
Suggested answer: Plastic waste pollutes our environment in a number of ways. Some animals think that plastic waste is food and try to eat it; this can make them very ill. Other types of plastic waste release chemicals into the environment which can pollute water or soil, or harm plants and animals.

Ensure that you have included plastic straws in your mind-map.

Part B: Exploring The Impact Of Plastic Waste In Our Oceans

Step 1.

Now show students the following image (also available here and on the Student Worksheet) and invite them to complete a SEE THINK WONDER around this image.

Note: Image also available here (McChokey image)

Once complete, engage students in a class discussion around their answers. Explain to students that this image shows a turtle made of straws. It was made for War On Waste, and the aim of this artwork is to share a message that straws (and other types of plastic waste) that end up in our oceans are harmful to animals, especially turtles.

Differentiation:

Years F to 2 - Explain to students that some of these impacts include:
- Plastic straws can be inhaled by turtles through the nose, which then get stuck.
- A plastic bag in the water can look like a jellyfish, which is a food source for some marine animals.
- Nearly every piece of plastic ever made still exists today. Why? Plastic never truly breaks down. Other waste materials – like paper or glass – break down eventually. However, plastic just breaks into smaller and smaller pieces. These little pieces of plastic look like food for many fish, birds and other marine animals.
- Most of the plastic waste in our oceans comes from the land. Wind blows plastic rubbish out of streets and landfills, and from trucks and trains on their way to landfills. It gets into rivers, streams and storm drains and then gets carried by tides and currents out to sea. Litter dropped by people at the beach is also a major source. A small amount of waste also comes from boats, offshore oil rigs and large cargo ships.
Year 3 - Invite students to work in groups to read the Plastic Pollution Factsheet and make notes about things they find interesting or important. Once complete, engage students in a class discussion around what they read and invite volunteers to share one point they found interesting with the class. Keep a record of these on the board.

Step 2.

You could also share the following clip with students (iTunes, Enhance TV):

Episode 1, The Battle Continues - 34:59 to 43:48

Note: This clip does include some footage of a turtle with a straw in its nose which might be upsetting for some viewers - if this is the case, you could consider stopping this clip at 41:55.

Once complete, invite students to reflect on this clip by asking them to respond to the following questions:

What do you think this clip is telling us about plastic waste?
What did you find interesting or important about this clip?
What questions do you have about this clip?

Keep a record of student questions; you could use these to guide further discussion or inquiry.

Differentiation for Year 3: Explain to students that Jennie Gilbert (who runs the Cairns turtle rehabilitation centre featured in this clip) is a scientist who works with the turtles. By studying and caring for the turtles who come to the centre, she is finding out some of the ways that plastic waste can harm turtles. She does this by monitoring their health, watching their behaviour and recording her observations. Why do you think the work of scientists like Jennie is important to understanding how waste impacts marine animals?

Part C: An Ocean Of Plastic Art

Step 1.

Remind students of McChokey, the turtle made of straws that they looked at earlier. Explain that there are many artists from around the world creating artworks that communicate a message about plastic in our oceans. They believe that art is a great way to share this message because many people have an emotional response to art, and having an emotional response to a problem like plastic waste is a great way to get people to take action for this problem: we are more likely to take action for something that we care about.

Differentiation for Year 3: When it comes to issues around our environment, we are finding that more and more scientists are looking to artists to help communicate scientific findings. Scientists can be really good at finding out what is happening in our environment and artists are really good at helping people understand what the scientists find out; artists are great communicators.

Share the Plastic Waste Artwork Images with students, and for each image invite students to suggest answers to the questions below. Alongside each image you will find information about the artwork that you can share with students, to clarify or prompt them in their assessment of each artwork:

I wonder what you see?
What do you like about this artwork and why?
I wonder what the artwork is made from?
What colours are used? I wonder why these colours are used?
I wonder what this artwork is about?
What questions do you have about this artwork?

Differentiation for Year 3:

I wonder what message the artist is trying to convey? What is the intention of the artist?
I wonder what visual conventions the artist used?
How do you think the artist might have used scientific knowledge in this artwork? What makes you say that?

Step 2.

Once complete, you could also ask students to answer the following:

Which is your favourite artwork and why?

Step 3.

Explain to students that they are now going to plan and create their own artwork with a message about plastic waste. This artwork could be created through the use of plastic waste materials. This could be done either by collecting a quantity of plastic materials (such as bottle tops or straws) and creating the artwork out of these, or by creating an artwork that contains one of these plastic items (such as a painting of a turtle eating an actual plastic bag).

1. The first step is to think of something that your students find interesting or important about plastic waste in our oceans. Remind them of the issues they looked at in the clip or on the Plastic Pollution Factsheet (Year 3), or if any of the Plastic Waste Artwork Images they viewed contained messages they are interested in, they could focus on one of these.

Students could work independently, in pairs or as a

2. Students need to then create a draft of their artwork. Emphasise that perfection is not important at this stage; instead, it is more important to have fun and think creatively about what they’d like to include in their artwork. At this stage they don’t necessarily need to include the plastic items they aim to incorporate into their artworks; however, it might be useful to practise how these materials might be used and to think about what other resources will be required to include them (such as glue, tape or string).
Differentiation for Year 3: Students should also incorporate scientific information about the message they are conveying through their artwork. They could conduct their own research to gather this information or use the information in the Plastic Pollution Factsheet.
3. Once students have created their drafts, invite them to share their drafts and to offer and receive feedback. Use the following tips during the feedback process:

4. Once feedback has been provided, invite students to create the final draft, incorporating feedback where necessary.

5. Once students have completed their artworks ask them to create an artist statement in support of their work. Explain to students that an artist statement is a short, written statement of the artist’s intention behind their work. In the case of this artwork, the artist statement could be used to clarify the messages about plastic waste within the artwork. Students can use the following questions to guide the writing of their artist statement:

• What is the title of your artwork?
• What materials did you use?
• What is the message behind your work?

Invite students to draft, redraft and create a 'good copy' of their artist statement so that it can be displayed next to their artwork in an exhibition.

6. Hosting an exhibition of student artworks provides students with an opportunity to display what they achieved throughout the project, reflect on their successes and failures, and exhibit evidence of their projects.

Invite students to make a list of the people from outside their class that they would like to invite to attend an opening of an exhibition of their work – this could be done in the classroom or at a school assembly. Guests might include parents, other students and other teachers.
Agree on the details for the 'opening', such as date, time and place, then include those details in an invitation. Encourage students to reach out to their potential audience using an agreed upon method. This could be via email, a hand-delivered written invitation or a phone call.

Reflection

Engage students in a class discussion around the following questions, or invite them to work independently to answer the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What was the most interesting or inspiring thing about this lesson and why?
What was most challenging for you in this lesson and why?
How did you overcome this challenge?
Why is it important that we talk to people about how we can help our environment?

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

War On Waste - Plastic Waste In Our Ocean

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