Teach Primary Issue 18.5

• What is a prevailing wind? • How many plastic items do you think you’ve used today? • Label the Atlantic Ocean, North Sea, Irish Sea, English Channel, and Bristol Channel. [Children can use Google Earth/ Google Maps/class globe if necessary.] • Label England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Ask pupils to complete the map skills worksheet, then discuss the answers as a class. Question 1 refers to the Isle of Arran. Using the images on the PowerPoint, ask pupils to discuss why this area, with a population of just 5,000, has lots of plastic along its coast. Children should be able to identify prevailing winds, currents and storm frequency due to its location. Note that the island is a tourist destination, which could mean that there are lots 2 | GEOGRAPHICAL SKILLS Give each pupil a copy of one of the maps provided at tinyurl.com/ tp-PlasticPollution . You can choose to use a blank map, a partly completed map or a fully completed one depending on year group, ability and time available. Ask pupils to use what they’ve learned so far to do the following: • Draw an arrow and label prevailing winds using the compass points. [In the UK we have prevailing winds coming from the SW.] • Draw a directional arrow and annotate the North Atlantic Drift. [Explain that an annotation is a descriptive label such as, ‘The North Atlantic Drift is a powerful warm current that helps maintain UK temperatures’.] • Explore the other plastic-focused lessons created by Surfers Against Sewage. Our ‘Plastic Persuasion’ activity ( tinyurl. com/tp-PlasticPersuasion ) would follow on well from this lesson. • Participate in Surfers Against Sewage’s Plastic Free Schools programme ( plasticfreeschools.org.uk ) . • Use the Plastic Adrift website ( plasticadrift.org ) to explore how long floating plastic takes to reach different locations. • If you are lucky enough to live near a coastline or waterway, extend your lesson by leading a fieldtrip to explore plastic pollution in your area. You could even include a beach clean or waterway cleanup as part of your trip. See our guide to organising your own cleanup ( tinyurl.com/tp-CleanPlastic ) . • Research other areas of the world, or specific species, that have suffered from serious environmental issues caused by plastic pollution. EXTENDING THE LESSON of summer visitors generating plastic waste. The tourist industry is notorious for utilising single-use plastic products such as miniature bottles of shampoo and bottled water. The Think About Plastic group that has formed on the island has worked hard to raise public awareness about this, and change business behaviour. Question 2 looks at Bristol. How could plastic waste reach the ocean from this city? One answer is that it could be blown from urban areas into waterways then transported to local rivers and then out to sea. The River Avon runs through the city and joins the Bristol Channel. Finally, discuss the last question on the map skills worksheet, ‘What can I do to reduce plastic pollution?’. Children should have an awareness that their actions, regardless of where they live, have a global impact. 3 | ADDITIONAL MAP SKILLS If you have a higher ability group, you can challenge them to complete the following activities: • On your map, label the three longest UK rivers: Severn, Trent and Thames. How close to urban areas are these and what impact does that have on the amount of plastic pollution reaching the ocean? • Label the largest cities in the UK: London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Bristol, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast, Cardiff. Allocate a six-figure grid reference to each city. Investigate recycling success stories for one of these cities. Lara Jeffries is education manager at Surfers Against Sewage “Single-use plastics, lack of recycling and poor waste management allow plastic to travel into our oceans” USEFUL QUESTIONS www.teachwire.net | 79