Use this lab to learn about certain characteristics of marine debris and how these characteristics affect where marine debris is found in the environment.
Materials:
- Fan
- Large bucket
- Large, shallow dishpan
- Trash (several pieces of glass, plastic, metal, paper, rubber, wood and food)
- Watering can
Procedure:
- Put the pieces of “trash” in separate piles.
- Fill the bucket with water. Place each piece of trash in the water. Answer the following questions: Which items float? Which do not? (Make a list on the chalkboard.) What will happen to buoyant items when they get into the ocean? What are some potential problems for buoyant items? What will happen to some of the buoyant items when they get into an ocean or lake? Is there a tendency for all of the articles of the same type to float or sink?
- Set up the fan at one end of a table. Place each piece of trash in front of the fan, one at a time, and see if it is blown around. Which items are blown around? What causes trash to blow around in the environment?
- Fill the dishpan with water and place it in front of the fan. One at a time, put each article of trash in the container and turn on the fan. Which items are easily blown around in the water? (Make a list on the chalkboard.) Is there a tendency for all articles of the same type to be blown around?
- Fill the watering can with water. Take a board and elevate one end so the board slopes into a sink. Place the pieces of trash on the elevated board, and sprinkle water down the board. Which items are easily moved by the sprinkled water? (Make a list on the chalkboard.) What element in nature acts like the sprinkled water? Is there a tendency for all of the articles of the same type to be affected by the sprinkled water in the same way?
- Discuss how the characteristics examined (whether an item floats, is blown around, or is carried by sprinkled water) affect whether an item is likely to become marine debris. Also discuss how the natural environmental forces of wind, rain and running water can cause trash to become marine debris.
Source: United States Environmental Protection Agency, “Turning the Tide on Trash” booklet
Originally posted on sciencekit.com.
