Overview

Take this quiz to see how much you know about ocean plastics, and then try some of the other activities in the Ocean Plastics Academy at Home collection to deepen your understanding. You can either take the quiz online below or use the paper card version for family or classroom use (instructions below the embedded quiz).

Activity steps

For the paper version...

1. Cut out the question and answer strips on the Ocean Plastics quiz cards.
2. Fold each question and answer strip and glue together to make a card.
3. Lay out all the cards on a table and take it in turns to choose a statement and decide whether it is true or false.
4. Turn the card over to find the answer. If you get the answer right keep the card to keep score. If you get it wrong, put in a discard pile.
5. Share your favourite fact to impress your friends. You could select a photo that represents your chosen fact or even a record a video of you reading it out loud. Make sure you tag @commonseas when posting, and please use the hashtag #SeaChampions. Thank you!

Activity materials

• Safety scissors
• Glue stick

Almost 300 million metric tons of plastics are produced worldwide annually. This is equivalent to the entire biomass of all adults in the world.

From all the discarded plastic, around 8 million metric tonnes end up in our oceans, making plastic the greatest component of marine litter. Wind and light help degrade this plastic debris over time, transforming it into microplastics. These fragments smaller than 5mm are everywhere in the global ocean. Plastic debris affect wildlife as it causes entanglement, ingestion and habitat alteration. Fish, crustaceans and other animals ingest microplastics, which reduces their energy intake and body mass, while having adverse health outcomes. This has also major implications for humans, from healthcare to economic activity.

In the long term we need to change how we relate to plastic through the 6 Rs: recycle, reduce, reuse, refuse, rethink, repair.