Implement this Lesson:
This lesson can be taught in conjunction with the ocean currents lesson.
Learning Objective:
Students will demonstrate how ocean currents move. Students will observe and explain how currents affect the spread of pollution.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)
6.11(A) research and describe why resource management is important in reducing global energy poverty, malnutrition, and air and water pollution
6.11(B) explain how conservation, increased efficiency, and technology can help manage air, water, soil, and energy resources
6.12(A)* investigate how organisms and populations in an ecosystem depend on and may compete for biotic factors such as food and abiotic factors such as availability of light and water, range of temperatures, or soil composition
6.12(B) describe and give examples of predatory, competitive, and symbiotic relationships between organisms, including mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism
6.12(C) describe the hierarchical organization of organism, population, and community within an ecosystem
6.13(A) describe the historical development of cell theory and explain how organisms are composed of one or more cells, which come from pre‐existing cells and are the basic unit of structure and function
6.13(B) identify and compare the basic characteristics of organisms, including prokaryotic and eukaryotic, unicellular and multicellular, and autotrophic and heterotrophic 6.13(C) describe how variations within a population can be an advantage or disadvantage to the survival of a population as environments change
7.10(A)* describe the evidence that supports that Earth has changed over time, including fossil evidence, plate tectonics, and superposition 7.10(B)* describe how plate tectonics causes ocean basin formation, earthquakes, mountain building, and volcanic eruptions, including super volcanoes and hot spots
7.11(A)* analyze the beneficial and harmful influences of human activity on groundwater and surface water in a watershed
7.11(B)* describe human dependence and influence on ocean systems and explain how human activities impact these systems
7.12(A)* diagram the flow of energy within trophic levels and describe how the available energy decreases in successive trophic levels in energy pyramids
7.13(A)* identify and model the main functions of the systems of the human organism, including the circulatory, respiratory, skeletal, muscular, digestive, urinary, reproductive, integumentary, nervous, immune, and endocrine systems
7.13(C)* compare the results of asexual and sexual reproduction of plants and animals in relation to the diversity of offspring and the changes in the population over time
7.13(D)*describe and give examples of how natural and artificial selection change the occurrence of traits in a population over generations
7.14(A) describe the taxonomic system that categorizes organisms based on similarities and differences shared among groups
8.10(A) describe how energy from the Sun, hydrosphere, and atmosphere interact and influence weather
8.10(B) identify global patterns of atmospheric movement and how they influence local weather
8.10(C) describe the interactions between ocean currents and air masses that produce tropical cyclones, including typhoons and hurricanes
8.12(B) describe how primary and secondary ecological succession affect populations and species diversity after ecosystems are disrupted by natural events or human activity
8.12(C) describe how biodiversity contributes to the stability and sustainability of an ecosystem and the health of the organisms within the ecosystem
8.13(A) identify the function of the cell membrane, cell wall, nucleus, ribosomes, cytoplasm, mitochondria, chloroplasts, and vacuoles in plant or animal cells 8.13(C) describe how variations of traits within a population lead to structural, behavioral, and physiological adaptations that influence the likelihood of survival and reproductive success of a species over generations
8.13(B) describe the function of genes within chromosomes in determining inherited traits of offspring
Overview:
Ocean currents play a major role in how pollution moves through marine environments. In this activity, students will simulate ocean currents and observe how they influence the spread of pollution, including plastic nurdles.
Possible Books:
- Snurtle and the Oceans Hurdles “Nurdles” by Kristy Craigle
- Nurdle and the Microplastics by Claire Vowell
- Nurdle the Turtle: Lessons in Litter eBook by Rochelle Archibald
- Beach Clean-Up Adventure: Zac’s Happy Planet
Materials Needed:
- Hurdles with Nurdles (video clip)
- The Great Nurdle Hunt (overview of the nurdle problem)
- Nurdle Fact Sheet (reference material)
- All materials can be found on nurdlepatrol.org
Lesson Plan:
- Lesson adapted from
Advanced Prep:
- Set up one container per group with about 1 inch of water and 2 rocks placed so that parts of each stick above the surface (to represent continents).
- Keep ice cubes nearby in a cooler or fridge so they don’t melt before use.
- Prepare enough stations for groups of no more than 5 students.
- Alternative: You can model this as a teacher-led demonstration projected on a screen, but hands-on group participation is highly recommended.
Introduction:
- Begin with the video Alien Deep: Ocean Conveyor Belt (National Geographic) to review how ocean currents work.
- Introduce nurdles with the clip Hurdles with Nurdles (play from 0:27 to 8:31).
- Pass around vials of nurdles for students to examine.
- Explain that some nurdles float and some sink, depending on density.
- Most nurdles collected on beaches are the floating type—like the ones used in this activity.
Procedure:
- Explain that students will investigate how ocean currents affect the spread of pollution, including nurdles.
- Divide students into groups and assign each to a prepared station.
- Each group adds one large ice cube (or several small ones) to their container.
- Students carefully add drops of food coloring to simulate pollution: 4 drops of blue between the rocks 8 drops of yellow in the top right corner 4 drops of green in the top middle section 4 drops of red to the right side of the right-hand rock Place 4 nurdles anywhere in the tray (Refer students to the diagram on their handout for placement.)
- Students record on their diagram where the nurdles are placed at the start.
- Remind students not to touch, bump, or blow on the container, as even small disturbances can affect results.
- After 8 minutes, students record where the pollution and nurdles have moved.
- They should use colored pencils to shade the spread and update their diagrams.
Discussion:
- What kinds of pollution might the different colors represent?
- How did the “continents” (rocks) change the way currents moved pollution and nurdles?
- Which color of pollution spread the farthest?
- Why do you think that happened?
- Did the nurdles move with the currents?
- How far did they travel?
- What do you think happens to nurdles that sink (higher density plastics)?
- Did you notice a difference between movement at the surface and the bottom of the container? Why might that occur?