Duration
50min

Dimension of the advised group of students
10-30

Specific objectives
Students will be able to: - explain the phenomenon, its causes and effects - provide solutions to related problems in their context - act pro-socially and prevent the phenomenon - develop positive learning habits (organisational and ecological and problem-solving skills)

Link Source
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/society/education-resources/

Needed Materials
Computer &internet connection

Software
To interact online with students use: -online communication platform, such us: zoom, google meets, etc -tools to deliver the training and working in groups: mentimenter, jamboard, slido, kahoot, etc.

Description
National Geographic offers immersive experiences, interactive lesson plans, maps and other free resources. Teachers can use the National Geographic Education site as a reliable resource for geography-based lessons, as well as lessons for other subjects that can be rooted in geography, such as weather, animals, history, and culture. Resources are available in formats such as activities, videos, photos, interactives, maps, educator guides, and more. Teachers can bookmark and organize the resources they found useful into collections for each topic or class. They can also design entire individual or group projects, for instance, around the MapMaker Interactive option, which is a powerful and captivating format for telling stories about places, travel, natural and human resources, and change over time. Teachers can use the one-page maps for quick homework assignments, asking students to map locations, resources, or routes throughout the world. The website is great for homework help as well (vocabulary and encyclopedic entries provide reference information), along with free exploration. This web site is scientifically reliable and can be recommended to students. It is well-organised and accessible. The layout highlights the most important points. Its embedded dictionary facilitates understanding so when students come across words they do not know they can click on the work and have it clarified. The resources can be used as support for a range of learning activities (self- study, project work). The site could be used with students at risk of demotivation because the activities are completely adapted to this kind of students using non formal education methodology and its activities could be adapted to fully virtual or blended. The tool can be used and applied in both a fully virtual/at distance teaching context and a blended learning one.

Procedure on how to put in practice
Students will be given new insights into the phenomenon (A plastic world: Perils of Plastic), examine its effects and provide solutions. They will be able to explain the phenomenon and provide solutions. They will acquire the basic English vocabulary connected with the topic (plastic waste). Students will develop positive learning habits (organisational and ecological and problem-solving skills).
Duration: 50 min
No of Participants: 10-50
Methods used: discussion, presentation
Communication in mother tongue/English.

Step-by-step description:
1. The teacher introduces the topic and elicits from students what they know about the perils of plastic.
2. The students comment on a photo related to throwing tons of packaging carelessly into waters- seas, oceans or rivers. The teacher explains what happens to plastic once thrown away and presents the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to students (the map of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch). They start doing the activities (multiple choice questions) that the platform suggests.
3. Students are asked to read about the garbage patches (https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/) and take notes on the following issues: location, formation, perils and solutions. Class discussion follows where new vocabulary is highlighted and explained. The teacher raises students’ awareness about the perils of plastic deposited in growing “landfills;” they make a connection to their own lives and calculate how much garbage they generate in a week and a year.
4. Students engage in a week-long activity. Thus they have to collect their plastic garbage for a week and set up an area at home/classroom for collection. After a week students measure and weigh the garbage they produced and collected. They use the data to calculate how much garbage they would produce in one week/ one year/ ten years. The teacher asks students to reflect on their findings: Why is plastic harmful to the environment? What would be the solution?
Debriefing question: What could people do to produce less garbage?