Marine Pollution
Activities and Resources
The GRAB Trust
GROUP FOR RECYCLING IN ARGYLL & BUTE
Activity
What happens / learning
outcomes
Beach findings
(5 minute warm up
activity)
Children try to identify hidden litter items Beach litter items in cloth
by touch. Each item is something that
bags or hidden in a bucket
might be found on a beach.
of shredded paper
Memory game
(approx. half hour)
Beach litter items are discussed and
then covered with a cloth and the
children write down the things that they
can remember. Good discussion tool.
20 litter items found on the
beach
Cloth to cover up the
items
Take a walk on the
wild side
Children walk along beach – can be a
representation of a beach in the
classroom – and write on their
worksheets the names of 4 items that
they think are dangerous. They then
select if they think each item is
dangerous to animals or humans and
note why they think this. End with class
discussion.
For classroom-based
activity: a selection of
beach litter items
Worksheets
Be safe at the
beach
Children select items that are
dangerous on a beach clean and say
why they think they are dangerous.
They then state why the items are
dangerous and state what can be done
to avoid getting hurt.
Selection of beach litter
items
Worksheets
Funding for beach
cleaning
Children calculate how much money
can be raised from cleaning beaches of
different lengths.
Post-it notes
Info sheet about funding
Funding application form
Where is the
beach?
Children learn to find locations on a
map and give 4 figure grid references
for these. Some prior knowledge of
maps is needed.
Children identify responsible and
irresponsible behaviours
Maps
Worksheet
Paper
Post-its
Scottish Outdoor Access
code poster showing
responsible / irresponsible
behaviours
Examples of anti-litter and
animal impact posters
Paper
Various art materials
Outdoor access
code
Designing posters
Children identify what makes a poster
effective and create their own posters
Materials
Designing T-shirts
Children discuss about anti-litter images
and slogans and design their own Tshirts
Examples of anti-litter Tshirts / posters
T-shirts
T-shirt paints
What happened
next?
(approx. half hour)
Children develop awareness and
understanding of the consequences of
marine litter. They identify ways in
which marine litter can be reduced.
Envelopes containing
photos of marine litter
impacts on animals and
people
Marine litter survey
Children develop awareness of types of
marine litter and distinguish litter from
natural things found on the beach. They
identify ways of reducing and preventing
marine litter. Children sort litter into
categories, then count the items and fill
in the a graph.
Selection of items from
particular beaches in
labeled plastic bags
Worksheets (2)
How long does
marine litter last?
(approx. half hour)
Children gain awareness of how long
items of litter last in the marine
environment. Children place items of
litter along a timeline.
Various items of marine
litter
Timeline
Marine litter quiz
Children answer 8 true / false questions. Quiz sheets
Good way to round off a workshop.
Comic strip
Children develop a comic strip about the Examples of cartoon strips
effect of marine litter.
Comic strip templates
Template images
Paper
Drawing materials
Seabirds don’t like
plastic
(approx. 1 hour)
Children learn about the eating habits of
fulmars and gannets and how they are
affected by plastic litter. Children
discuss the problem of seabirds
ingesting plastic and then decorate bird
cut-outs with plastic packaging and
slogans.
Posters of fulmars and
gannets
Lunch box
Examples of plastic litter /
packaging
Bird shapes
Card
Scissors
Glue sticks
Felt-tip pens
Oil and water – a
good mix?
Children to identify how oil gets into the
marine environment and what the
effects are. Children predict what will
happen when oil is poured into water.
They then dip a feather into the mix and
discuss how oil could affect marine
animals.
Vegetable oil
Bowl of water
Seabird feathers
Litter poem
Children identify ways in which marine
animals and birds can be affected by
litter and discuss ways to solve this
problem. Children learn some
techniques of poetry and write poems
about the impact of litter on marine
animals.
Turtle template poster
Animal impact images
Marine poetry book
What’s the harm in
it?
Children identify different types of
Items of marine litter
marine litter and work in groups to rate
Photos of marine litter
them along a scale from most harmful to ‘Harm line’
least harmful. They can then discuss
whether the items harm animals, people
or the environment or all three.
The source of the
problem
Children identify the sources of marine
pollution and litter. They work in groups
sorting the pictures into ‘sources of
pollution’ ‘not sources’. Then discuss
what the sources have in common.
Cards showing pictures of
potential sources of
marine pollution and litter
plus some of animals, fish
etc
Word challenge
Children work in groups to make new
words out of the letters in the words
‘marine pollution’. Words must be three
letters or more. Groups can check each
others’ lists for spelling mistakes and
nonsense words.
Cards with the letters from
the words ‘marine
pollution’
Paper
Markers