EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Participants in the Gulf of Mexico Marine Debris Collaborative offer links and downloadable educational materials for people of all ages to learn about marine debris. Whether you are a formal educator or just interested in learning more, there are general and region-specific resources available.
Lab activity for 5th to 10th grade.
https://www.teachervision.com/earth-science/how-can-different-polymers-be-identified
Activites and curricula for all ages and audiences are available at the NOAA Marine Debris Program's website. These resources focus on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) standards and were developed or funded by the NOAA Marine Debris Program. Both formal and informal educational resources are available.
This 12-lesson curriculum connects science and art to help students understand the plastic pollution problem and communicate about it through art.
The Marine Debris Monitoring Toolkit for Educators was created through a collaboration between the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) and the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. This toolkit provides many useful marine debris resources and adapts the MDP's Marine Debris Monitoring and Assessment Project, a robust citizen science monitoring initiative, for classroom use. The Toolkit is designed to assist teachers in educating their students about marine debris and involving them in marine debris research and outreach. Using the Toolkit, students conduct marine debris surveys, which can help to provide valuable information on where, when, and what kind of debris is showing up. Students can enter their data into a national database, analyze monitoring results, and become involved in marine debris stewardship within their communities. You can find the toolkit below, or on the NOAA Marine Debris Program website here.
https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/publications-files/TheEducatorsGuidetoMarineDebris_SE%20and%20GoM%20Education%20Kit.pdf