With a piece of plastic here and a piece of plastic there, here a piece, there a piece, everywhere a piece. Teams go on a field trip in order to document the locations and kinds of plastic trash in an area near them. The eighth installment of a unit with nine parts, has groups document the plastics found according to their type, age, and location. The teams collect enough data to use in the next activity of creating a Google Earth layer.

Concepts

gps, human impact on the environment, the environment, environmental science, recycling, pollution, plastic, technology resources

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Instructional Ideas

• Collect the trash along with documenting it
• Spend some time with the class in converting longitude and latitude coordinates into decimal degrees

Classroom Considerations

• Groups need GPS devices and digital cameras
• Choose individuals to go on the field trip that will be cautious

Pros

• Contains example field notes that show the detail needed
• The activity instructions provide details of what the teacher should accomplish before taking the class on the field trip

Cons

• None

Common Core

6.NS.B.2 6.NS.B.3