For Educators

An integral part of NC Big Sweep’s mission is to educate others about the dangers of litter. If we can increase awareness of this problem, then our environmental quality can only improve. To this end, Big Sweep has developed a variety of educational resources available for use in schools and other forums. In addition to these, many organizations that are partners with Big Sweep also provide educational materials. Please be aware of the opportunities listed below, and do your part to help Big Sweep spread the word about the harmful effects of litter. Litter hurts not only plants and wildlife, but it hurts us, too.

Educational Activities Involving Cleanups

Below are some ideas to enhance your cleanup activities by adding an educational component before, during and after the cleanup.

Prior To Big Sweep Cleanup Day:

Literature

Splish Splash

An activity book for teachers of children ages five to seven. It contains twelve activities concerning litter in aquatic and marine environments. Some ideas can be modified for older children. To order a copy of Splish Splash, click here to go to the Storefront

Click here to view a sampling of these activities.

• Word Search – Objective: to search for and uncover words hidden in a puzzle. Estimated time for activity: five to ten minutes. Materials needed: copies of the word find (template included) and pencils.
• Fatal Food Relay Game – Objective: to teach empathy for wildlife, show problems associated with trash in our environment and encourage stewardship. Estimated time for activity: 20 minutes. Materials needed: four or more lunch-size brown bags; real food or pictures of food such as small fish, bread, seaweed or crabs; examples of “fatal” food such as balloons, plastic bags, fishing line and six-pack rings.
• Litter Rally Maze – Objective: to gain an awareness of what litter is; learn how dispose of litter properly; understand that some litter can be recycled. Estimated time for activity: 20 minutes. Materials needed: copy of maze (template included) and pencils.
• Recycled Rhythm Instruments – Objective: to use old materials by turning them into musical instruments. Estimated time for activity: 30 to 45 minutes. Materials needed: hammer; nails; metal bottle caps; clothes hangers; wire cutters or pliers; masking or other heavy tape; broom or mop handles or similarly shaped scraps of wood; paint (if desired); plastic containers with lids or plastic drink bottles with caps; beans, rice or sand; two-by-fours or other wood scraps; sandpaper; stapler; coffee cans with lids.
• Don’t Splash Your Trash Song – Objective: to learn about the Big Sweep statewide cleanup through a fun song. Estimated time for activity: 10 to 20 minutes. Materials needed: recycled rhythm instruments (see previous activity), enthusiastic singers!
• Entangled Crab – Objective: to show entanglement of a paper plate crab in litter. Estimated time for activity: 15 minutes to make a crab; 15 minutes to entangle and discuss. Materials needed: one paper plate per child, colored markers, scissors, three to five feet of string or monofilament fishing line.
• What’s My Line? Reel Trouble! – Objective: to untangle fishing line and rescue entangled wildlife in a fun relay game. Estimated time for activity: 30 minutes. Materials needed: kite string with handle for each team (two or more); copies of entangled animal picture cards (included at the end of this activity)–one per team member; and clothespins (one per picture card).
• A River Rescue – Objective: to show the harmful effects of litter in the aquatic environment by addressing animal entanglement in a story. Estimated time for activity: 20 minutes. Materials needed: copy of story for children to follow; crayons, markers or colored pencils.
• Adventures of the Big Sweep Bunch (picture cards and finger puppets) – Objective: to teach conservation concepts of recycling, reusing, precycling, composting, and picking up trash through storytelling and finger puppet skits. Estimated time for activity: 10 to 20 minutes. Materials needed: copies of storyboards (rows of pictures included in the activity); photocopies of finger puppets (included at the end of this activity); crayons. (Optional: miniature stages made from large shoeboxes or large tissue boxes.)
• “Touchy-Feely” Box (Adapted from Project Learning Tree) – Objective: to identify objects by touch and classify whether or not they are a natural part of the aquatic environment. Estimated Time for activity: 30 minutes. Materials needed: large shoe box or similar container with lid; samples of natural items found in aquatic environment (feathers, rocks, sand, leaves, sticks, plants); non-natural materials often present as litter (bottle, fishing line, plastic packing peanuts, plastic bag).
• Mystery Word – Objective: to translate visual images to the written word; to develop an awareness of personal responsibility in maintaining a clean environment through recycling. Estimated Time for activity: 20 minutes. Materials needed: copies of “Find the Mystery Word” worksheets (included at the end of this activity); pencils.
• Monofilament Mess. Story, circle-the-picture worksheet and dot-to-dot – Objective: to recognize that litter harms wildlife. Estimated Time for activity: one or two class periods. Materials needed: clean six-pack rings, mylar balloons, monofilament fishing line, etc. (Students can collect the items, if desired.)
• Splish Splash Glossary

Ripples

for teachers of children ages eight to eleven, contains sixteen activities to help students learn the importance of environmental stewardship and the harmful effects of marine debris by building an understanding of how litter and pollution impact the water cycle. RIPPLES activities that emphasize how litter can have a negative impact on animals include “Getting Out Of A Bind”, “Litter To Critter”, and “Little Orphan Eddy”. To compare and contrast the needs of society to costs associated with pollution, see “Who’s Who In Plastic”, “Hidden Trash”, and “Turning Trash Around”. To order a copy of Ripples, click here to go to the Storefront

Click here to view a sampling of these activities.

• Getting Out Of A Bind (Simulated entanglement) – Objective: to teach empathy for wildlife by simulating an animal’s entanglement in plastic litter. Estimated time for activity: 15 minutes. Materials needed: one large rubber band for each child.
• Litter Letters Crossword Puzzle – Objective: to expand litter vocabulary by solving a crossword puzzle. Estimated time for activity: 30 to 45 minutes. Materials needed: pencils.
• Hidden Trash (Finding hidden items in a picture) Objective: to develop data collection skills and to identify and classify hidden litter. Estimated time for activity: 30 minutes. Materials needed: packages of crayons or colored markers.
• Who’s Who in Plastic? (Plastic charades) – Objective: to use charades to increase awareness of plastics in daily life. Estimated time: 30 minutes. Materials needed: none.
• Be A Sport. Trash Sort! (Recycling relay game) – Objective: to identify and sort recyclable trash in a relay game. Estimated time for activity: 30 minutes. Materials needed: two large boxes, six paper bags, resealable plastic bags, aluminum (drink cans, foil, pie pans), paper (newspaper, computer printout, junk mail) and compostable items (banana peels, dead leaves, coffee grounds, grass clippings), paper and pencil.
• Litter Bar (Graphing litter data) – Objective: to analyze data from a shoreline litter collection by making bar graphs. Estimated time for activity: 45 minutes. Materials needed: paper, pencils, colored pencils, rulers, graph paper or facsimile, protractors (optional).
• Breaking The Litter Code (Coded message with a litter theme) – Objective: to learn how to read a grid by decoding a litter message. Estimated time for activity: 10 to 20 minutes. Materials needed: pencils, crayons or colored pencils (optional).
• A Beautiful Day (Guided imagery exercise) – Objective: to recognize some of the intrinsic values of litter-free woods and streams through guided imagery. Estimated time for activity: 30 minutes. Materials needed: art and writing materials, tape of sounds from a forest or stream environment (optional).
• Litter to Critter (Matching dangerous litter to vulnerable wildlife) – Objective: to recognize danger waterway litter poses to wildlife by matching litter to the animals it threatens. Estimated time for activity: 20 to 30 minutes. Materials needed: pencils.
• Little Orphan Eddy (Adopt-a-waterway group project) – Objective: to accept responsibility for the care and cleanliness of a particular stream, beach or boating access area. Time for activity: as much as you can give. Materials needed: trash bags, enthusiasm and good attitude.
• Turning Trash Around (Creating an aquatic storyboard) – Objective: to illustrate how to prevent or eliminate pollution in an aquatic environment by creating an aquatic storyboard. Time for activity: one or two class periods. Materials needed: squares of corrugated cardboard at least 10 inches by 10 inches (one per team), poster board rectangles (10 per team), colored markers, paint, knife, crayons, scissors, construction paper, glue tape.
• The Early Bird Gets The…Plastic? (Plastic ingestion simulation) – Objective: to see how animals can mistake plastic for food. Estimated time for activity: 30 to 40 minutes. Materials needed: a tray or shoe box for every five children; plastic resin pellets, packing pellets or plastic foam pieces (from beanbag chairs or potting soil), 1/2 cup each tray; bird seed or popcorn, 1 1/2 cups per tray; a spoon and cup per child.
• Paper Caper. Group recycling project – Objective: to learn about recycling through an active recycling campaign in a classroom or community. Estimated time for activity: several hours a week. Materials needed: information about recycling in your community.
• Trash-To-Treasure Art (Making buttons and bookmarks) – Objective: to recycle trash into bookmarks and buttons. Estimated time for activity: 30 minutes. Materials needed: construction paper scraps, old greeting cards, jar lids (shallow, such as spaghetti sauce or pickle jar lids), thin paper, cereal box cardboard, colored pens, scissors, clear plastic contact paper, safety pins, hot glue gun, glue and tape.
• Wildlife Tug-Of-War (Six-pack ring pull) – Objective: to understand the danger of six-pack rings to wildlife by demonstrating their strength and durability. Estimated time for activity: 30 minutes. Materials needed: new six-pack rings; two long pieces of rope.
• Designs On Litter (Making collages from litter) – Objective: to draw attention to litter found in a school or community by using it in a collage. Estimated time for activity: at least 45 minutes. Materials needed: large sheets of paper for mounting collages, glue, assorted “clean” litter.
• RIPPLES Glossary.

A Citizen’s Guide to Plastics in the Ocean: More Than a Litter Problem.

Revised 1994. Center for Marine Conservation (now known as The Ocean Conservancy), 1725 DeSales St., NW, Washington, DC 20036. (202) 429-5609. $2.

Project Learning Tree

Extension Forest Resources, Box 8003, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8003. (919) 515-5518.

Project WILD

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, 512 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27604. (919) 733-7123.

Aquatic Project WILD

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, 512 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27604. (919) 733-7123.

CATCH

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, 512 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27604. (919) 733-7123.

Mystery of the Cast Off Caper

N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, Box 7606, NCSU, Raleigh, NC 27695-7606. Or contact your local county extension office.

River’s Edge

4-H Environmental Science Adventure Activity Sheets. N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, Box 7606, NCSU, Raleigh, NC 27695-7606. Or contact your local county extension office.

A Kid’s Guide to How to Save the Planet

$3.50, and Some Things You Can Do To Help, free. Environmental Defense Fund, 257 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010.

Waste in Place

K-6. Includes a computer program. Keep America Beautiful Inc., 9 West Broad St. Stamford, CT 09602. (203) 323-8987.

Waste – A Hidden Resource2

7-12. Includes a computer program. Keep America Beautiful Inc., 9 West Broad St. Stamford, CT 09602. (203) 323-8987.

Conch Shell

Free. A newsletter for educators that provides new ideas about marine education and an update of events. Published three times a year. Write Conch Shell, N.C. Sea Grant, Box 8605, NCSU, Raleigh, NC 27695.

Coastwatch

$12. Bimonthly magazine featuring articles about the North Carolina coast. Includes marine science and research, nature, and history. To subscribe, send check and mailing information to N.C. Sea Grant, Box 8605, Raleigh, NC 27695-8605.

Posters

Water Usage Posters

Free. Specify middle school or high school. Posters available in color or black and white (students can color themselves). U.S. Geological Survey, Books and Open File Reports Section, Box 25425, Denver, CO 80225-0425. (303) 236-7476.

“Popeye’s Advice”

Free. Center for Marine Conservation (now known as The Ocean Conservancy), 1725 DeSales St. NW, Washington, DC 20036. (202) 429-5609.

“The Only Thing You Should Ever Leave on the Beach”

$5. A photo of a beautiful beach with footprints. World Society for the Protection of Animals, P.O. Box 190, Boston, MA 02130. (617) 522-7000.

Videos/Slide Shows

“Death of a Whale”

Approximately 17 minutes. This video provides an unforgettable lesson on the dangers of marine debris. For ages 13 to adult. $24.95, with teaching guide included. To order, call Environmental Media at 1-800-ENV-EDUC (1-800-368-3382) Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm.

“Trashing the Oceans”

1988. 8 minutes. $10. Center for Marine Conservation (now known as The Ocean Conservancy), 1725 DeSales St. NW, Washington, DC 20036. (202) 429-5609.

“All Things Are Connected”

1992. 12 minute video introducing environmental ethics through the words of Chief Seattle. This Land Is Sacred is the accompanying 42-page teacher’s guide. $22 for video and guide; $20 for video only and $4.50 for teacher’s guide only. N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, Educational Products, 512 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27604-1188. (919) 733-7123.

Marine Debris and Entanglement Slide Show

$25, may be borrowed or purchased. 15 minute presentation for the public. 48 slides. Center for Marine Conservation (now known as The Ocean Conservancy), 1725 DeSales St. NW, Washington, DC 20036. (202) 429-5609.

Organizations:

The Ocean Conservancy

www.oceanconservancy.org

1725 DeSales St. NW, Washington, DC 20036. (202) 429-5609.

Environmental Media

www.envmedia.com

P.O. Box 10106, Chapel Hill, NC 27514. 1-800-ENV-EDUC.

National Marine Education Association

P.O. Box 51215, Pacific Grove, CA 93950.

North Carolina Aquariums

www.aquariums.state.nc.us/Aquariums/

Education Curators: Roanoke Island, Manteo, NC 27954. (919) 473-3493.

Pine Knoll Shores, Atlantic Beach, NC 28512. (919) 247-4003.

Fort Fisher, Kure Beach, NC 28449. (910) 458-8257.

N.C. Cooperative Extension Service

www.ces.ncsu.edu/

4-H Youth Development Department, NCSU, Box 7606, Raleigh, NC 27695. (919) 515-3242.

N.C. Division of Coastal Management

P.O. Box 27687, Raleigh, NC 27611. (919) 733-2293.

N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation

ils.unc.edu/parkproject/ncparks.html

12700 Bayleaf Road, Raleigh, NC 27614. (919) 846-9991.

N.C. Division of Soil and Water Conservation

www.enr.state.nc.us/ENR/DSWC

P.O. Box 27687, Raleigh, NC 27611. (919) 733-2302. Or contact local county Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

N.C. Maritime Museum

315 Front Street, Beaufort, NC 28516. (919) 728-7317.

N.C. Office of Environmental Education

www.enr.state.nc.us/EHNR/ee

P.O. Box 27687, Raleigh, NC 27611. (919) 733-0711.

N.C. Office of Waste Reduction

Department of Environment and Natural Resources, (919) 571-4100 or 1-800-763-0136.

N.C. Sea Grant

Box 8605, NCSU, Raleigh, NC 27695-8605. (919) 515-2454.

N.C. Wildlife Federation

P.O. Box 10626, Raleigh, NC 27605. (919) 833-1923.

N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission

www.state.nc.us/Wildlife

322 Chapanoke Rd., Raleigh, NC. (919) 662-4377.

Streamwatch, N.C.

www.dwr.enr.state.nc.us

Division of Water Resources, P.O. Box 27687, Raleigh, NC 27611. (919) 715-5433.

UNC-Chapel Hill Environmental Resource Program

Miller Hall, Campus Box 8165, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8165. (919) 966-3332.

U.S. Coast Guard Sea Partners Program

www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/nmc/seapart.htm

USCG Marine Safety Office, 272 N. Front St., Wilmington, NC 28401. (910) 343-4895.

Other

Six-pack ring recycling trees

A cooperative effort betweeen ITW Hi-Cone (the company that makes six-pack ring carriers), Keep America Beautiful, and Big Sweep. To find out how your school can recycle six-pack rings, call Lois Nixon, coordinator of Wake County Keep America Beautiful, at (919) 856-6778. Or call ITW Hi-Cone at (708) 773-9300.

Storm drain stenciling in North Carolina

Call the water quality specialist at North Carolina Sea Grant, (919) 515-2454.

U.S. Coast Guard Sea Partners Program

A national program implemented by the Coast Guard Reserve. Includes presentations with slides, videos, and educational activities. Tailored to audiences of all ages. Includes curriculum materials for teachers. Contact Wayne Chapman, MARPOL coordinator. (919) 815-4895.

North Carolina Big Sweep

Statewide waterway cleanup. P.O. Box 126, Zebulon, NC 27597-0126. To volunteer, click here to visit the Volunteer Sign Up page or call 1-800-27-SWEEP.