Plastic threats

Plastic in the ocean is having a devastating effect on marine life. In this activity, you will learn about some of the impacts of marine plastic pollution and create a diorama, or poster, to use as an inspiration to reduce plastic use at home. This activity relates to science learning about human impact on the environment.

Ages 8+

45 minutes

(or longer!)

Part of:

Common Seas Ocean Plastics Academy

How to do it How to do it
What you'll need What you'll need
Find out more Find out more

Overview

Find out just how much impact plastic pollution is having on marine life. There is more information on how ocean plastic harms marine life in the Find out more section as well as in the Student Sheets for each activity. Depending on the resources you have available you can either create a poster or a diorama.

To make a poster simply choose one of the animals listed in the Plastic threats information cards (downloadable from the What you'll need section) and use the information to create a visual display which shows how everyday carelessness and use of unnecessary plastic can harm ocean creatures.

The diorama activity described below guides students and families to create a more detailed view of the impact of plastic on the marine environment. Read through the steps below and have a look at the Plastic threats templates (downloadable from the What you'll need section), which will guide you through making your diorama.

As a warning, some of the imagery and facts relating to the impact of plastic on marine life may be distressing for younger children and teacher or parental discretion should be used.

The diorama activity steps below are just a guide, and feel free to use your own ideas and any materials to hand to achieve the objective of showing the impact of plastic pollution on marine life.

Activity steps

For your diorama, you will need a cardboard box, about 40 cm wide by 60 cm long and 20 cm deep.
A smaller box could be used, but you may need to shrink some of the templated examples of marine life and plastic pollution.
Create the backing for your diorama. Use paper or paint to represent the sandy bottom, ocean, and blue sky. Cut and stick a piece of yellow or sandy-coloured backing paper to line the bottom of your box. Cut and stick pieces of blue backing paper to line the top and sides of the box to represent the sky.
Then measure out a section of aluminium foil to go around the sides of your box to represent the ocean. Cut a wave pattern along the top of the foil, and then stick it in place.
Add examples of marine life, plastic pollution and information cards. This can be done by either sticking, propping or hanging the cards within the box.
Some of the examples will have tabs on them which can be folded back and stuck to the bottom of the ‘sea’, allowing them to be propped up.
Other examples can be stuck to the backing. Depending on the example, these can be placed either in the sea, sky or resting on the waves.
You can also hang examples from the top of the box. Just attach them to cotton thread and make a hole in the top of the box, feed the thread through and attach it to a paper clip.
Dioramas are our favourite! We definitely need to see a picture of your amazing creation, and so does everyone else! Please share a photo on Instagram, or even a video of you describing what’s going on. Don’t forget to tag @commonseas when posting (and use the hashtag #SeaChampions), so we can share more widely as well. Thank you!

Examples of work

Activity plastic threats 8 yo example diorama — Example of work by 8 year-old using 'scavenged' items from around the home

Activity plastic threats 4 yo example diorama — Example of work by 4 year-old (with parental support) using 'scavenged' items from around the home

Further ideas

You can develop your understanding of the impact of plastic on the marine environment by using some of the Ocean Plastics Academy Teacher Resources. For ages 5-7, see the lesson What impact can plastics have?. Science and geography lessons for ages 7-11 are What impact can plastic have? Part one and Part two.

For older students, use the science lessons for ages 11-14, How does plastic affect the environment? and Plastics and bioaccumulation. For a geography focused lesson, use What is plastic and why is it a problem in the ocean?.

Safety guidance

This activity involves plenty of cutting and punching holes so adult supervision and the use of child appropriate tools such as safety scissors is advised.
When using waste plastic to create examples of marine plastic pollution ensure that this is washed thoroughly.
If you are posting work on social media, this should be done via a parent, guardian or school account for children under the age of 13. Children over the age of 13 should still be supervised by an adult. Check out the Thinkuknow website for more guidance on online safety.

Plastic can cause harm to marine life and humans in three ways. Physical harm can be caused when animals become entangled in plastics and when animals eat plastic. Chemical harm can occur due to the toxic nature of the chemical additives associated with the manufacturing of plastics. Biological harm can occur as microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria ‘hitch-hike’ on plastic particles, taking them to new environments or speeding their spread.

Activity plastic threats turtle — Green turtle entangled in plastic debris

Animals can become caught in plastic debris. This occurs to a number of species including turtles, sharks and seals. One of the main culprits is discarded fishing nets and fishing gear.

Activity plastic threats albatross — Dead albatross on Midway Island with stomach full of plastic

Plastic waste in the ocean can also be mistaken for food. Albatross chicks have been found on Midway Island in the Pacific and are presumed to have starved to death, with their stomachs full of plastic instead of food.

Activity plastic threats copepod — Copepod ingesting fluorescent microplastic

Plastic waste does not only affect larger species. As large items of plastic waste are made brittle by UV light and broken up by wave action, they become available as food for smaller creatures, such as copepods and shellfish. Laboratory studies have shown that when small animals eat plastics it can reduce the amount of food they can eat.

A fuller description of the threat marine plastic pollution poses can be found in the Subject Update How does plastic harm the environment?.

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