This lesson plan teaches middle and high school students how ocean currents transport debris, spilled oil, and other pollutants through the ocean environment.
The lesson uses real data collected during the Biscayne Bay Drift Card Study (Bay Drift), a citizen science study that used Consortium for Advanced Research on Transport of Hydrocarbon in the Environment (CARTHE) GPS drifters and small wooden drift cards to observe local currents and pollutant transport.
“Bay Drift: Tracking Ocean Pollution” can be completed in a single class period and provides teachers with background information on ocean pollution transport as well as step-by-step instructions for introducing students to the study. Students will learn how to: (1) analyze drifter data; (2) describe, compare, and contrast both types of drifters used in the study; and (3) use local currents to predict where drifters and pollutants will go. A Story Map of the Bay Drift study was developed to compliment the lesson: https://arcg.is/1e0T40.
A free downloadable copy of “Bay Drift: Tracking Ocean Pollution” is available here.
Visit the dedicated Bay Drift page on the CARTHE website to learn more about the study behind the lesson.