Plastic is here to Stay Workshops at EYE

Today we took a little bit of Shoreham Beach to Davison CE High Schools for Girls for the E.Y.E summit. E.Y.E Stands for Eco Young and Engaged – The E.Y.E. Project was established in 2008 by Tim Loughton, M.P. for East Worthing and Adur.

The Project aims to raise sustainability awareness and encourage young people’s interest in the environment. It provides an additional opportunity for the young people within those schools to learn about environmental matters through fun and educational activities available at our Eco-Summit events across West Sussex.

I took along my display stand that looks at Shoreham as part of the global ocean and focused on the benefits we get from the ocean such as 50% of the oxygen we breathe. The display also explained why Shoreham Beach is special.

Bella was also there too with her message about water and her travels to the Amazon and Madagascar.

 

The theme of the event this year was sustainability and so we ran three workshops exploring plastic and considering if as invaluable to modern society or if it is an environmental scourge.

I started the workshop with the children suggesting things that were made of plastic and if this was a good or bad use of plastic and why.

 

To help understand how we have reached our current use of plastic, we explored how and why plastic was originally invented and how it was inspired by the amazing abilities and limitations of rubber. We looked at early plastics – such as celluloid – without which we would not have had a film industry at that time, which linked to the early film making at Shoreham.

We looked at Bakerlite which paved the way for modern plastics

 

I encouraged children to think of ways that the invention of plastic may have helped the environment – for example it greatly reduced our reliance on wood and reduced cutting down of woodland and rainforest).

 

We then discussed environmental problems from plastic, looking at terrestrial examples as well as marine. The children then took part in the Albatross game – which explores how albatross adults in Hawaiian Islands collect food (and accidentally plastic and other man-made items) which they feed to their chick. Explore plastic pollution threat to wildlife and the environment.

As albatross parents they will collect food for their chick. This will involve one child at a time picking up a card (face down) to reveal a plastic item or food item to feed their chick. Each child (albatross) will collect several cards and then we discussed the fate of their albatross chick.

Some collected just food items, some collected food items and small pieces of plastic some, a few collected food but also large items such as a tooth brush or disposable lighter. Will their chick survive? I then gave the children one last piece of information, just before it fledges the albatross chick will regurgitate a bolus of undigested food items such as squid beaks, fish scales etc and the bolus may include small bits of plastic, bottle tops etc.

The children then reconsidered the fate of their chick based on this.

We then looked at micro plastics with the help of a micros plastic activity and then discussed sources such as photo-degraded plastic, micro-beads and nylon threads from our clothes.

Consider if modern society can exist without plastic and discuss ideas of how society/we can help reduce the plastic debris problem.

 

We finished by looking at possible replacements for plastic such as bio-plastics made from natural materials – this included a possible new plastic made from the shells of shrimps and prawns that are currently discarded each year as part of seafood processing.

We then discussed ways that we can help with the current problem by choosing carefully what we buy, by reusing and recycling.

It was a great day and the children were very excited and keen to apply what they had learned to their own school or at home.

It was an amazing day.

You can find out more at http://www.eyeproject.co.uk/news

Ed the Bear and One Ocean Project take apart in EYE Eco Summit

Great to be taking part again in the EYE Eco Summit (EYE = Eco Young Engaged). http://www.eyeproject.co.uk/about-us Following the 9th annual Worthing & Adur Eco Summit this is the first event for schools in the west of the county which was held at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum.

During the day, participating schools took part in a variety of workshops including Living Wage Game, Importance of pollinators, energy misuse and saving energy, importance of water conservation and others. the participating schools could chose 3 workshops to take part in - including our workshop One Ocean - focusing on the benefits we get from the ocean and ways that we are impacting our climate.


Using a presentation of Ed the Bear and the One Ocean Project I introduced the pupils to the concepts around benefits we receive from the ocean using examples from Ed the Bears travels. Then used examples from Ed's travels to consider ways we impact our climate - this included a Q&A.

We then used this as a start point for the pupils to create an infographic, group 1 focused on the benefits and group 2 ways that we impact our climate
 

Infographic 1

Pupils considered how we benefit from the ocean. In a nut shell we discussed benefits such as how the ocean creates and moderate our climate and weather.

From Workshop 1

How plant plankton produce 50% of the oxygen we breathe and in turn remove a million tons of carbon dioxide a day from the atmosphere. How the ocean provides freshwater via the water cycle – creating and replenishing freshwater habitats, providing water for us to drink, to grow crops etc.

                            From workshop 2

We looked at how 50% of the food we eat (globally) comes from the ocean and how the ocean allows us to transport 90% of our goods around the globe. The oceans are a great provider of wellbeing and fun activities. They are also a great potential source of renewable energy.

                            From workshop 3

We also considered what creates wind and waves.

Infographic 2

Because it would be too big a topic to look at all the ways we impact the ocean, we focused on how humans impact our climate.

Pupils started from the point that out main impact was from burning fossil fuels causing climate change. From there the pupil’s problem solved (with a bit of help and guidance) what impact this might have.

                                         From workshop 1

This included sea level rise from melting ice caps (and I added to this thermal expansion the cause of 50% sea level rise so far, when water warms it expands). They considered how man made climate change would cause some places to have droughts while other places will flood. How increase in tropical storms will impact our weather in the UK – rain is good but too much rain means we get all the negative aspects (affecting us, crops, freshwater habitats) but few of the benefits.

                                           From Workshop 2

We looked at how sea level rise could cause other problems - such as increased coastal erosion. 40% of the global population live close to the coast. The pupils looked at how a rise in sea temperature is damaging habitats such as coral reefs, disrupting food webs by creating changes in the distribution of some animals.

                                            From Workshop 3

People cause climate change but they can also be part of the solution.

We finished the workshop where we started – what does the ocean have to do with sustainable schools, by the pupils identifying which elements of each infographic  was relevant to sustainable schools and which aspects could sustainable schools have a positive effect.

To help cement the idea that the problems we cause through man made climate change are caused by impacting on the natural processes that provide the benefits we get from the ocean – each group shared their infographic with each other.

During the lunch break teachers and pupils visited our stands.

At the end of the day a presentation shared some of the good practices and projects that the various schools had instigated in their own grounds. There were also certificate for best reuse of items. The day finished with each workshop sharing in a 2 minute the results of their workshops.

It was a great day and amazing buzz from the children. The children in my workshops did a great job of problem solving these issues.

Eco Schools Summit

Here we are again at the EYE summit, EYE stands for Eco Young and Engaged.

The project shares sustainable living ideas be tween schools and they have the chance to show case what they are doing in their school to save energy, recycle or help wildlife in their school grounds. There are also exhibits from lots of organisations and also workshops that the children can take part in to learn more.

We had our stand set up in the main hall as usual and this year Steve ran workshops on dolphin rescue. During the workshops the children learned about dolphins and that sometimes they become stranded on the shore. The children learned about the first aid they could give a dolphin to keep it alive until the marine rescue team could arrive.

A stranded dolphin can easily die from heat exhaustion (gthey get to hot when not in water) from gravity - the dolphins own body weight when not supported by water can crush its organs such as its lungs and heart and other problems the children had top learn about before they could plan their rescue.

In the workshops the scenario was that a dolphin had become stranded on the beach entangled in plastic. 

The children, in two groups, had to use what they had learned to plan their rescue and then undertake their rescue.

All the children in the workshops did really well and it they found a dolphin in real life they should be able to keep it alive. After the rescue we did a debrief of their rescues to find out from the children how well they think their rescue we and discussed the problems of plastic pollution in the ocean

They also handled some whale bones, this is a vertebra from a dead stranded  killer whale backbone

While Steve was doing the workshops, Abby helped me and Bella on the display stand.

It was a great day and the children were very excited and interested to hear about the ocean and also about conservation. Thanks for the help Abby.