Format
1 - Audience joins the captain of the good ship BTT Lost at Sea in harbor. Introductions are made, Q&A is discussed, some parameters are set, and we set sail to discover if BTT can do anything about reducing plastic waste.
2 - At sea, the captain shares some of the research they have done plastic; what it is, where it comes from and where it goes.
3 - We discover some floating plastic trash, and turn it into instruments. Students build simple instruments at this point as well (this is optional depending on the age and desired engagement level) and join in a song.
4 - We enter the garbage patch, sharing pictures and graphs, and discover more about how harmful plastic can be to the ocean life, ecosystems, and can even accelerate climate change.
5 - [spoiler alert] Our boat runs aground on garbage! We have to get creative with available resources in order to get back to harbor...
6 - Back in harbor, we recapitulate, discuss plastics in a realistic way that accepts the good - respirators, lightweight materials for electric cars - and highlights the bad - just about any single-use commercial plastics. We lay out some possible ways that students can help to join the fight agains plastic pollutions, and open the door for further discussion.
7 - Q&A with our audience! This can be via text or on-camera, depending on the connection technology and privacy concerns.
Objectives
This show is intended to raise awareness of plastic pollution issues in our oceans, and explore possible solutions. Along the way we explore creative use of repurposed materials and show students a different way of looking at resources around them.
Objectives:
- Raise awareness of plastic pollution in our oceans
- Explore the dangers of microplastics
- Make connections between plastic pollution and global climate change
- Explore creative solutions to new and difficult problems
- Look at innovative ways to use trash as a resource
- Discover how to help fight against plastic pollution
Standards Alignment
National Standards
BTT Lost at Sea focuses on two main subjects:
Sound - waves, vibrations, instrument families, resonance, etc.
Sustainability - plastic pollution, climage change, microplastics, resources, Reduce/Reuse/Recycle etc.
In terms of the science connections, BTT programs connect to the following NexGen Science Standards... or as much as possible within a 45" program... just being realistic!
1st Grade
1-PS4-1, Wave Properties: Waves and Their Applications Technologies for Information Transfer
1-PS4-1 Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.
1-PS4-4 Use tools and materials to design and build a device that uses light or sound to solve the problem of communicating over a distance.
Crosscutting Concept: Cause and Effect
2nd Grade
2-PS1 Matter and its Interactions
2-PS1 Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.
2-PS2 Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.
Crosscutting Concept: Patterns; Cause and Effect
K-2 ETS1 Engineering Design
K-2-ETS1-2 Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
Crosscutting Concept: Structure and Function
3rd Grade
3-PS2 Motion and Stability
3-PS2-1 Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.
3-PS2-1 Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.
Crosscutting Concept: Patterns; Cause and Effect
4th Grade
4-PS3 Energy
4-PS3-2 Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.
4-PS4 Waves
4-PS4-1 Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move.
4PS4-3 Generate and compare multiple solutions that use patterns to transfer information.
Crosscutting Concept: Patterns; Cause and Effect
5th Grade
5-PS1 Matter and its Interactions
5-PS1-1 Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.
5-ESS3 Earth and Human Activity
5-ESS3-2 Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural
Earth processes on humans.
Crosscutting Concept: Cause and Effect
5-ESS3, Earth and Human Activity
5-ESS3.C: Human activities in agriculture, industry and everyday life have had major effects on the land, vegetation, streams, ocean, air and even outer space. But individuals and communities are doing things to help protect Earth’s resources and environments.
Crosscutting Concept: Systems and System Models
3-5-ETS1 Engineering Design
3-5-ETS1-1 Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
Crosscutting Concept: Influence of Science, Engineering and Technology on Society and the Natural World
Middle School
MS-PS4 Waves and their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
MS-PS4-2 Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials
High School
HS-PS3 Energy
HS-PS3-2 Develop and use models to illustrate that energy at the macroscopic scale can be accounted for as a combination of energy associated with the motions of particles (objects) and energy associated with the relative positions of particles (objects).
State Standards
available upon request