Ship-2-Shore Education/ Mapping Plastic Marine Pollution
Mapping Plastic Marine Pollution: Lessons for Grades 4-12
This Educator's Guide provides lessons that allow students to explore plastic pollution research in the North Pacific Ocean using free Google Earth software. Lessons are aligned to California Science Content Standards and are accompanied by printable activity sheets.
PDF Mapping Plastic Pollution
Required Software
These lessons are designed for use in GoogleEarth, which is free, user friendly software and is available for download at; http://earth.google.com/
With modification portions of these lessons can also be used in GoogleMaps if it is not possible to load GoogleEarth software on your school computers (see below for more information).
Both GoogleEarth and GoogleMaps require an internet connection to operate.
Lesson Materials
All of the materials for these lessons can be downloaded for free from the table below (Scroll to the bottom of this section to go directly to the table to download files).
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Voyage Files (KML)- These KML files are compatible with GoogleEarth and GoogleMaps software. The files each provide a layer showing the route of a plastic marine pollution research voyage taken by an oceanographic research vessel. During the voyage the research crew took photographs and wrote daily observations. These daily log entries can be viewed by clicking on each blue sailboat icon in the layer. Any Voyage File can be used for the Grade 4-7 lessons. Grade 8-12 Lessons require specific Voyage Files. Voyage Files can be loaded onto school computers prior to the lesson, or students can visit this page (this web address is at the bottom of each Activity Sheet page) and download the files themselves 
Lesson Plans (PDF)- The lesson plans provide an overview of each lesson, a list of required materials, suggestions for extension activities, vocabulary, and the California Science Content Standards addressed. The lesson plans assume the instructor has already loaded Google Earth software on classroom computers (see above).
Activity Sheets (PDF)- The activity sheet guides students through the lesson with detailed instructions, and questions to respond to. This sheet can either be printed for students to fill out in hardcopy or students can open the PDF and type their responses into the form fields. The activity sheets for grades 4-8 start with the assumption that the students already have the necessary Voyage KML file(s) loaded onto their computer and open in Google Earth. However this web address is printed on the bottom of each activity sheet, so students can open this webpage and download their own KML files which will open into Google Earth.
| Grade | Lesson Plan (PDF) | Activity Sheet (PDF) | Voyage File (KML/KMZ) |
|---|---|---|---|
Grade 4 |
Grd4 Lesson Plan.pdf | Grd4 Activity Sheet.pdf | Select one: |
| Grade 5 | Grd5 Lesson Plan.pdf | Grd5 Activity Sheet.pdf | Select one: |
| Grade 6 | Grd6 Lesson Plan.pdf |
(Drawing activities require modification if this Activity Sheet is not printed.) |
Select one: |
| Grade 7 | Grd7 Lesson Plan.pdf | Grd7 Activity Sheet.pdf | Select one: |
| Grade 8 | Grd8 Lesson Plan.pdf | Grd8 Activity Sheet.pdf | |
| Grade 9-12 | Grd9-12LessonPlan.pdf | Grd9-12ActivitySheet.pdf |
Other supporting files: |
KML Files in GoogleMaps
If it is not possible to load GoogleEarth Software or the Voyage KML Files on your school computers, portions of the above lessons can also be used online in GoogleMaps with modifications. GoogleMaps is entirely available through your web browser and we have loaded the voyage KML files into GoogleMaps so they can be accessed directly by students on the Web at the following link;
http://algalita.org/VoyageMaps.htm
This can also be a useful tool to browse through different Voyage Files to choose which voyage would be most appropriate for your class. (Hint: Click the link below each of the maps to view the map in full screen in GoogleMaps and to gain access to the opportunity to open the file in GoogleEarth. See red arrow in the image to the left for the link location.)
More Resources
The following link provides background about plastic marine pollution research, including images of the equipment we use and details about our sampling protocol. This link also includes
a series of GIS maps created by the Algalita research team using ArcView GIS software.
http://algalita.org/Maps_Home.html
Lesson Extensions
Information about Careers related to GIS, Conservation and Marine Biology- Links
- http://www.virtualjobshadow.com/frame/vjs_frm.asp?career_id=236
- More coming soon!
Recommendations for Stewardship Projects Coming soon!
