Teaching ways to reduce plastic pollution in marine, freshwater environments

New York Sea Grant has published “Plastic Pollution and You,” a curriculum geared for grades 3-12 that’s focused on the human-induced threat to the health of New York’s marine and freshwater aquatic ecosystems.

The lessons and activities in the 126-page, 15-lesson curriculum urge students to think about what plastic is, how they use plastic and the consequences of plastic pollution in the environment. Students learn the different types of plastics, their impact on marine and freshwater ecosystems, and about the recycling process and trash-capture technology.

Skills developed through the curriculum lessons include data collection, charting, mapping, position statement preparation, and the design of technological solutions, behavior change campaigns, public policy and community-level action to address the plastic pollution problem.

“New York Sea Grant was pleased to provide its experience and expertise in this collaborative effort to develop a new and innovative curriculum to educate and prompt interest in reducing and preventing plastic pollution across New York State’s marine and freshwater environments — from our Atlantic Ocean shoreline and Long Island Sound to the Hudson River Estuary, St. Lawrence and Niagara rivers, and the state’s two Great Lakes. The curriculum will serve an important role to inspire the next generation of coastal stewards,” says Rebecca L. Shuford, director of New York Sea Grant.

The curriculum was co-authored by Kathleen Fallon, a coastal processes and hazards specialist with New York Sea Grant, and Nate Drag, associate director of the Great Lakes Program at UB and literary specialist with New York Sea Grant.

It aligns with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) New York Ocean Action Plan and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Marine Debris Program initiatives in New York’s coastal regions, including the Great Lakes.

In addition to several teachers from across New York State, representatives from the DEC, the NOAA Marine Debris Program, Michigan State University Extension, the Maryland and New York Sea Grant programs, and Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker helped review the curriculum.

A recording of the “Plastic Pollution and You” curriculum introduction webinar for teachers and educators is available online

Funding for this curriculum development was provided through New York State’s Environmental Protection Fund administered by DEC.

New York Sea Grant, a cooperative program of Cornell University and SUNY, is one of 34 university-based programs working with coastal communities through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.