Plastic-Free MKE Original Lessons & Activities

Jump in with Julius Video Lessons

Cafeteria Culture Resources

Great Lakes Literacy education exploration (GLLee)

Great Lakes Literacy education exploration are an introductory collection of resources and partners assembled in three easy steps to help teachers and youth explore Great Lakes Literacy.

1. Explore a Great Lakes Topic

2. Support Teaching and Learning with Additional Resources

3. Engage Youth in Place-based Education or Stewardship

Marine Debris (Best suited for students in grades 4-12) is an available GLLee topic for the 2022-23 school year.

• What? Marine debris is any human-made material that can end up - on purpose or by accident - in our rivers, ocean, and Great Lakes. Plastic-Free MKE encourages this GLLee Topic because plastic waste makes up ~80% of all marine debris, from surface waters to deep-sea sediments.

• Driving Question: How does marine debris (mostly plastic) impact our Great Lakes, animals (including humans), and plants that depend on this freshwater resource?

CGLL programs are open to all, but registration is required for educators to gain access to each Google Classroom and connected content.

#BreakFreeFromPlastic Education Manual

• A curriculum map for science-integrated plastic education

• Build the curriculum in 3 easy steps

  • Step 1: Check out the Plastics Education Primer

  • Step 2: Draft your curriculum map

  • Step 3: Pick your age group (ages 5-18)

Mermaid Echo Educational Activities

• Mermaid Story Text - Interactive story of Mermaid Echo discovering microplastics in the ocean!

  • Mermaid Story Pictures

• Microplastics Lesson Plan K-3 - Students will learn what microplastics are and where they come from through an interactive 15-minute activity simulating how plastic in the ocean moves through the trophic system.

• River Hero Mask Coloring Page

• Mermaid Echo

Sea Grant Resources

• Trash Trunk - loanable trunk of physical lesson materials and Educator’s Guide that teachers can easily borrow and return through their local library

  • Download the Trash Trunk Educator Guide

  • Download the Trash Trunk Display Cards

  • Request to borrow a Trash Trunk from your Sea Grant program

• Plastic Panic! - Model the journey water takes at a Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) through a series of hands-on steps around a tabletop model

  • Download the Plastic Panic Educator’s Guide

• Great Lakes Track and Act - a Marine Debris Tracker Mobile App where you can record debris and litter via GPS. Select the Great Lakes Track and Act organization to start tracking!

  • Marine Debris Tracker App

• Me and Debry - a 30-minute interactive theatrical performance about litter prevention

• Plastic Pollution Curriculum
  Recommended lessons:

  • Searching out Storm Drains, pp. 17-19: grades 2-7

  • Plastic Harming Animals Through Entanglement or Ingestion, with a focus on the Great Lakes, pp. 20-27: grades 2-6

  • Landfill in a Bottle, pp. 28-30: grades 2-8

  • Plastic in our Beaches, pp. 38-41: grades 7-12

  • Identifying Plastics Chemistry Lesson, pp. 42-51: grades 7-12

  • Ocean Animals and Different Plastic Ingestion, pp. 59-64: grades 7-12

  • Plastic Ingestion by Laysan Albatross, pp. 65-75: grades 7-12 (can do less with the statistics for younger grades)

  • Packaging Your Products, pp. 76-80: grades 2-12 (could be modified with different amounts of activities)

Greenpeace Lesson Plans

• Greenpeace has created a variety of lesson plans on plastic pollution based on age groups. Each plan consists of storytelling, arts and crafts, presentations, and small-group activities.

  • Lessons for Students up to 6 Years

  • Lessons for Students 6-12 Years

  • Lessons for Students 12+ Years

NOAA Marine Debris Program

• Turning the Tide on Trash Marine Debris Learning Guide

  • Includes lesson plans for grades K-12

  • Set of lesson plans and background information introduces educators, students, and researchers to the topic of marine debris

  • Can be used as a stand-alone teaching tool or to supplement work in other subject areas

Other Lessons

• Ahisma x The Smurfs™

  • The Smurfs™ and Ahisma, who makes stainless steel food ware, have collaborated on creating a curriculum for students to learn about sustainability and improve their environmental literacy.

• Milwaukee Public Schools Climate Education Collection

  • A list of climate education books for grades K-12!

• Wisconsin Climate Education Hub

  • Search “Plastics” to find over 80 resources!

• What Goes Around Comes Around Lesson Plan

  • Grades 2-12 (upper grades can use the activities toward the end)

  • Active team building game about plastic never going away

  • Can focus on plastic (not just all garbage)

• Reducing Every Day Plastic Use Lesson Plan

  • Grades 6-12 (upper grades can add more to it)

• Personal Plastic Use Audit

  • Grades 2-12 (can be modified per grade level)

• Waste-Free Crew By Earth Echo International

  • Earth Day activities for Wisconsin teachers

• Find Creative Ways to Reuse Non-Recyclable Plastic with Crafts in the Classroom!