1. On the Plastics Trail
Use geographical skills to investigate plastic pollution affecting UK coastlines

2. What is plastic?
An artificial substance that can be shaped when soft into many different forms and has many different uses.
Ask students to work with a partner to try to define what plastic is. It may be useful to have a wide variety of plastic products available or pointed out such as water bottle, pen, chair, bag, computer etc
Share answers before revealing the dictionary definition.

3. Where does plastic come from?
Plastics are derived from materials found in nature, such as natural gas, oil, coal, minerals and plants.
Contrary to popular belief oil isn’t made from decomposed dinosaurs! In fact it was the smallest organisms and plants that created fossil fuels.
Oil formed from the remains of marine plants and animals that lived millions of years ago, even before the dinosaurs. The microscopic organisms (mostly plankton as seen in the image above) fell to the bottom of the sea.
Bacterial decomposition of the plants and animals removed most of the oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur from the matter, leaving behind a sludge made up mainly of carbon and hydrogen.
As the oxygen was removed from the detritus, decomposition slowed.
Over time the remains became covered by layers upon layers of sand and silt. As the depth of the sediment reached or exceeded 10,000 feet, pressure and heat changed it into crude oil and natural gas.
Images © Creative Commons
Marine plankton

4. How do we create plastic?
These natural materials go through a series of man made processes to create plastic.
Extraction
Refinement
Polymerisation.
Extraction can be challenging with sources often in remote and inhospitable locations.
Crude oil is refined into more useful products such as asphalt, petroleum and gasoline.
This process combines the hydrocarbon molecules into repeating chainlike-molecules called polymers. Polymers make plastic.
Plastics are derived from natural, organic materials such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt and crude oil. This slide focuses on crude oil and simplifies the process for a brief explanation.
Extraction of oil. This can be from under the ocean floor, frozen land or desert. The average Texan oil well is 900 feet deeper than the Grand Canyon. The average depth of the ocean is 12,430 feet and oil is extracted from beneath the ocean floor. The world’s deepest oil well - Sakhalin-I in Russia - reaches an incredible 40,604 feet. That’s 7.7 miles or 15 times the height of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
2) Crude oil needs to be processed before it can be used. First the oil is heated at the bottom of a column which causes it to vaporise. The vapours rise and separates different molecules of different weights and the heaviest molecules remain at the bottom. At different heights there are different collecting trays. Then the molecules are ‘cracked’ into two or more lighter molecules to give different end products. Finally it is treated to reduce molecules that are corrosive or cause air pollution.
3) Polymerisation is a process of changing the hydrocarbon molecules (monomers) so that they all link together in a chain. A bit like a bicycle chain made up of lots of links. When 1000's of monomers are linked together this is called 'Polymerisation' - the compounds formed are called Polymers - and plastic is the common name for Polymers!
Refinement image © Theresa Knott on Wikipedia

5. Why is plastic considered to be a problem?
Plastic is considered to have made the modern world possible.
Many things we take for granted today depend on it.
Can you think of any life changing plastic items?
The problem is that all plastic since it was created in 1907 is still around in landfills, recycled and reused into new products, or as plastic pollution.
There is no such thing as AWAY because plastic is so permanent and so indestructible that when you cast it into the ocean it does not go AWAY. Sir David Attenborough
Ask students to think of as many lifechanging plastics that they couldn’t imagine life without.
For example:
Medical gloves to prevent spread of infection and surgery instruments
Food storage and protection to preserve and improve shelf lives
Water pipes
Prosthetic limbs
Wires and cables
Telephones
TV!
However, the problem is that all plastic that has been created since 1907 is still around. And this is a big problem!
David Attenborough quote – what does he mean?
He is highlighting the fact that plastic never goes away. It can be broken up into much smaller pieces by sunlight, wave action and some wildlife but this turns into microplastic. Some as small as a width of hair. This causes significant issues in clearing up plastic waste and impacts the food chains for many of the worlds creatures.
If more information is required about why it doesn’t break down:
Nature does make its own plastics (e.g. animal horns can be used to make glue) but the problem is how we make plastic and the processes used. In nature it would use too much energy to produce hydrocarbon chains like we create to make plastic, so it chooses easier ways to hold together large molecules. As nature doesn’t create these it means that natural organisms are not designed to break plastic down.
They can break up plastics but only into smaller fragments (some only as wide as a strand of hair!). These are called microplastics and are a big problem in foodchains.

6. What is plastic pollution?
Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects in the Earth's environment that adversely affects wildlife, wildlife habitat, and humans.
Today we will be focusing on floating plastic.
Floating on the surface
Suspended in the water
On the seabed
Plastic pollution can be seen in different areas of the oceans:
Large items of plastic floating on the surface initially. (image from Drina River, Bosnia, one of the most polluted rivers in the World). Most plastic is lighter than water so it floats.
Suspended in water (and easily mistaken for jellyfish)
On the seabed. Plastics can sink depending on their density and if they have any holes for water to get in, or contain any liquid. As fish, birds and organisms peck at it and the sunlight breaks it down, it can break up into smaller pieces or bottles etc can open up and allow water in.
For more information about plastics and how it gets into the oceans please visit our ‘The Science of Plastic’ lesson resources.

7. Where does plastic pollution accumulate?
There are five major gyres, which are large systems of rotating ocean currents. Plastic waste and other debris can travel on ocean currents and get stuck in one of five main gyres in the world.
© NOAA
Gyres can sometimes be described as plastic soup with large debris such as fishing nets (even a Japanese fishing boat that was washed out to sea during a tsunami) and microplastics all mixed in together. They are not visible on Google Earth or from space as most of the debris is under the water surface.

8. Not all plastic gets washed far out to sea.
What geographical factors are involved in washing plastic up on UK shores?
Students work with their partner or small team to think about the geographical factors affecting UK coastlines and how these might also transport plastic waste from the seas back to land.
Students should identify prevailing winds and ocean currents as the two main factors.
Students could also recognise the importance of river mouths and coastal morphology with plastic not able to get out to sea due to the shape of the coastline, or brought back in by large tidal ranges and offshore currents.
Some students may identify storms and the season as a contributing factor, with winter bringing more destructive waves that will deposit plastic pollution from further offshore.
Example of a Scottish beach with plastic waste accumulated. Photo © Andy Waddington (cc-by-sa/2.0)
Example of plastic litter on Hengistbury Head near Bournemouth. Photo © Rob Noble 
Scottish beach
Beach near Bournemouth

9. Ocean Currents
The water in the ocean is constantly moving in patterns called currents.
© NOAA
Ask students to identify the ocean current that affects the UK coastline and our climate. Answer: North Atlantic Drift (an extension of the Gulf Stream travelling up from the Caribbean)
The water in the oceans is constantly moving in patterns called currents.
Some currents flow quickly, while some move very slowly. As the currents flow around the planet they move cold and warm water from one place to another, changing climate and temperatures all over the world.
The UK would be much colder if it wasn’t warmed by water that travels from the Caribbean - called the North Atlantic Drift.
The ocean currents also help move anything that floats in them. This can be sea creatures or ships, but unfortunately can also be rubbish that has been blown in, carried by rivers or dumped into the sea. This rubbish finds its way around the world, pollutes the oceans and can be harmful to sea creatures. Some kinds of rubbish, such as plastic are mistaken for wildlife and eaten by sea creatures. This causes them lots of problems and can even kill them.

10. Prevailing Winds
Wind from the direction that is predominant or most usual at a particular place or season.
© NOAA
Ask students to look at the wind forecast map, can you find the UK?
Can you spot which direction the prevailing winds are coming from? Answer: in the UK our prevailing winds are South Westerly.
Winds affect the types of waves reaching our beaches. Plastic can be pushed ashore by storm waves with destructive waves carrying lightweight plastic on its crest before depositing on the beach.
Wind map from Magic Seaweed forecasting

11. Draw an arrow and label prevailing winds using the compass points.
Draw a directional arrow and annotate the North Atlantic Drift.
Label the North Sea, Irish Sea, English Channel, Bristol Channel and Atlantic Ocean.
Label the countries. 
© NOAA

12. Isle of Arran
Approximately three quarters of the litter on Arran’s beaches is plastic!
Over 400,000 visitors a year.
A group of island residents started Arran’s campaign in February 2018 in response to heightened public awareness around ocean plastic and the damage it is doing to the marine environment. The group ‘Think About Plastic – Arran’ (TAP-Arran) was formed to create a focus for the campaign’s work.
Arran attracts over 400,000 visitors a year who go to explore its beautiful countryside. Tourism based businesses have led the way in demonstrating what can be done to reduce plastic usage. Action by accommodation providers includes; reusable water bottles to replace single use mineral water; soap and solid shampoo to replace mini-shower gel and shampoo bottles and providing guests with fresh milk to replace mini pots of UHT milk.
However, many of the pollution problems that Arran experiences are unrelated to the booming tourist industry and, in fact, geography plays a big part. An island, such as Arran, is very susceptible to plastic pollution being washed ashore from elsewhere by the ocean. Plastic pollution is a global issue but small communities can have a big difference.
Helen How, Chair of TAP-Arran, said “We are delighted by the support we have experienced from residents and businesses. Everybody can take simple and effective action to minimise usage of single use plastic items.”
Isle of Arran was the first Scottish Plastic Free Community, educating visitors and challenging businesses although being an island brings its own external pollution challenges!

13. Instow Beach, North Devon
Val Robson, co-ordinator of a group of volunteers who picked up the rubbish at the sandy beach at Instow on the north Devon coast, said the worst offenders were the beach-users.
"We found plastic bags, crisp packets, baby wipes and barbeque tins. I don't understand why people use the beaches as a dumping ground. It's very sad. Why can't they take it home?"
But she said she did think people were becoming more environmentally aware.
"I have been coordinating the beach clean for the past 14 years and each year I have more and more volunteers helping out with the beach clean."