QuikScience Challenge John Glenn Middle School Team B Shannon Slankard Addison Phillips Elly Green Janet Zepeda Irie Jimenez

Our EYE Environmental Club though it would be fun to enter a environmental challenge to show what kind of impact Middle Schooler’s could have on the World. Our club split into two groups and got started. We decided to teach about the impact of plastics on our oceans.

Community Service Our Eye Environmental Club did many projects to get to the point that we are at now. We started by having a contest at our school to see which classes could bring in the most plastic bottles and cans. We did this to see how much plastic a whole middle school could generate in just three weeks.

Collecting Our idea was a success. We collected and counted 1,432 bottles and cans. This information lead us to the question…What now?...Where does this waste all go? Counting Recycling

We started thinking about all the other waste that ends up in the landfills that can’t be recycled. We already knew styrofoam was terrible for the environment because it never degrades and can’t be recycled. We found out that paper coffee cups can’t be recycled because they have a plastic liner to keep them from leaking.

Environmental Solution We ordered reusable coffee cups with the school mascot, a red hawk on it. Then we visited all of the local coffee shops and asked them what kind of discount they would give people who brought their own cups. On the back of the cup we printed the discount information and an environmental message.

Our Coffee Cups Americans will use 23 billion disposable cups in ( Imagine how many of those drinks are poured into single-use disposable coffee cups. If 50 customers at each location used reusable mugs, we would save 150,000 cups per day, reducing waste by 1.7 million pounds of paper per year. Doing your part is easy – just bring a mug to the coffee shop with you. These coffee shops will do their part by giving you a discount. 25¢ Just Java (Bermuda Dunes/Indio) 10¢ It’s A Grind Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Starbucks

Sold Out! We planned on selling the cups in front of Just Java. We planned on selling the cups in front of Just Java. However, we immediately sold out because teachers and parents wanted the cups. However, we immediately sold out because teachers and parents wanted the cups. When our club has enough money in our account, we plan to place another order. When our club has enough money in our account, we plan to place another order.

Lesson Plan We went to Amelia Earhart Elementary School and taught 1st,2 nd,3 rd, and 4 th graders about the plastic and other numerous pieces of trash in the ocean. We taught four classes and reached 120 students. We showed what was happening in the ocean through a power point. To engage the students, we wrote and performed a song.

Teaching About Plastics in the Ocean

The water is always cleaner Without all them fish down there You dream about clear blue oceans But that’s just a huge mistake Just look at the sea beneath you Right here on the coastal floor Such wonderful things below you But not much that you can see. CHORUS Under the sea The plastic is drifting Creatures are dying Take it from me Up on the shore we litter all day And beneath us they suffer away While some are trying To save them from dying Under the sea Right here is some helpful data About all them dish down there The small fish at sea aren’t happy Because they grow ill from meals But big fish don’t get it easy Their in for a worser fate When big fish eat smaller fishes They reach their expiration date CHORUS Under the Sea Parody

The following slides are the powerpoint that we showed to the elementary students as part of our lesson. At the end of the powerpoint we had a question and answer period.

 In the sea, big pieces of plastic look like jellyfish or squid, while small pieces look like fish eggs so birds and other fish are drawn to the plastic.  Bill Macdonald, vice president of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation who is also an underwater filmmaker, said he has seen albatross parents fly huge distances to feed their young a deadly diet of plastic bottle caps, lighters and light sticks.

 Fulmars, a type of seagull, had an average of 30 pieces of plastic in their stomachs. Fulmar  Plastic is killing more than a million seabirds and 100,000 mammals and sea turtles each year.

 About 250 billion pounds of raw plastic pellets are produced annually worldwide and turned into a tremendous variety of products, from cars and computers to packaging and pens.  About 20 percent of the plastic in the oceans comes from ships or offshore platforms; the rest is blown, washed off the land or intentionally dumped.

 Most plastics don't biodegrade. Unless removed, they'll remain in the sea for hundreds of years, breaking up into ever- smaller particles.  The scientists also noted that the amount of plastic particles in the oceans has at least tripled since the 1960s. The effect they have on the marine ecosystems is unknown.

Elephant seal entangled in fishing line  Not only does plastic kill marine animals that eat it or get tangled in it and drown, but it also damages and degrades their habitat.  Plastic bags, bottle tops and polystyrene foam coffee cups are often found in the stomachs of dead sea lions, dolphins, sea turtles and others.