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Ocean Clean Up with Aquatic Garbage Collectors

  • Difficulty: Grade 6-8
  • Time: 60-75 mins
  • Categories: Oceans

In this lesson, students will learn about the impact of garbage and spills on our waterways. They will build an aquatic garbage collector that uses continuous servo motors to move garbage on the surface of a waterway toward a net.

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What this lesson includes

  • Lesson Content

    Waterway Clean Up, Quantities

  • Real-World Example

    Clearbot

  • Coding Tutorial

    Block-based

  • Assessment

    Triangulated Assessment Options

Educator Resources

Looking for  more educator resources

Overview Accordion

Learning Goals

Students will…

  • Describe how humans impact waterway ecosystems.
  • Identify three ways that garbage impacts our shores, beaches, and waterways.
  • Research types of aquatic garbage collection technologies.
  • Build an aquatic garbage collector that:
    • uses continuous servo motors to move garbage toward a net
    • changes motor speed based on the available solar energy

Preparation Accordion

Materials

  • Climate Action Kit
  • micro:bit V2
  • Computer with access to Microsoft MakeCode
  • Paper or tissue paper

Get to Know the Content

  1. Make sure you've completed our 'Getting Started with the Climate Action Kit' professional development series
  2. If it has been a while, review the kit components featured in this lesson:
  3. Review the lesson, particularly the following thinking routines from Project Zero (Harvard Graduate School of Education):

Activity Accordion

Big Idea (15 minutes)

Students will:

  • describe examples of pollution in different types of aquatic ecosystems, including oceans, waterways, shorelines, and beaches
  • explain the relationship between global population, consumption, and garbage in aquatic ecosystems.

Take Action (45 minutes)

Students will use the Climate Action Kit to design, build, and code their own aquatic garbage collector. The model will rotate in two directions, directing debris toward a net in a waterway.

We've provided 3 ways students may build the project to support scaffolding and differentiation in your classroom: 'Use', 'Modify', and 'Create'.*

Activity Description
Use

Students follow a tutorial to build and test an aquatic garbage collector that helps with waterway cleanup.

Success Criteria

I can:

  • build an aquatic garbage collector model using the Climate Action Kit
  • name and describe the main parts of my model
  • test how the model collects garbage from a waterway
  • discuss what the model does well and how I could make it better

Resources

Tutorial
Final Code
Modify

Students follow a tutorial to add the solar sensor to their aquatic garbage collector.

Success Criteria

I can:

  • build an aquatic garbage collector model using the Climate Action Kit
  • change the code to add new features, like a solar sensor to change the speed of the motors based on the amount of solar energy

Resources

Tutorial
Final Code
Create

Students work in small groups to design, build, and code their own aquatic garbage collection model.

Success Criteria

I can build an aquatic garbage collector with the Climate Action Kit that is physically:

  • sturdy
  • moves debris toward a net
  • has two garbage nets

and uses:

  • sensors to detect the light level in a waterway
  • motors that rotate in two different directions
  • at least one conditional statement

Resources

Blank Project

*Irene Lee, Fred Martin, Jill Denner, Bob Coulter, Walter Allan, Jeri Erickson, Joyce Malyn-Smith, and Linda Werner. 2011. Computational thinking for youth in practice. Acm Inroads 2, 1 (2011), 32–37.

Assessment Accordion

Use the following criteria to assess student learning. Students can:

Conversations

  • Can students explain the features of an aquatic garbage collector?
  • Can students explain a diver’s role in the maintenance and installation of aquatic garbage collectors?
  • Can students communicate the relationship between global consumption and aquatic dumping?
  • Can students explain the real-world quantity represented by the variables that make their model function? (Modify, Create)
  • Can students explain how the sensors work in their model? (Use, Modify, Create)

Observations

  • Do students methodically test and debug their model? (Modify, Create)
  • Do students make predictions about what certain segments of the code are responsible for and test those predictions? (Use, Modify)

Products

  • Students annotate their code to explain how it works (Use, Modify, Create)
  • Students break down problems into smaller subproblems (Modify, Create)
  • Student-created models meet the design criteria outlined in the lesson (Create)

Standards Accordion

Next Generation Science Standards

Grade 6-8

MS-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

MS-ESS3-4 Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems.

MS-ETS1-1 Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

Computer Science Teachers Association Standards

Grade 6-8

2-DA-07 Represent data using multiple encoding schemes.

2-AP-12 Design and iteratively develop programs that combine control structures, including nested loops and compound conditionals.

Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

Grade 6

6.PR.A.3.C Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100 (e.g., 30% of a quantity means 30/100 times the quantity); solve problems involving finding the whole, given a part and the percent.

6.NS.C.5 Understand that positive and negative numbers are used together to describe quantities having opposite directions or values (e.g., temperature above/below zero, elevation above/below sea level, credits/debits, positive/negative electric charge); use positive and negative numbers to represent quantities in real-world contexts, explaining the meaning of 0 in each situation.

Grade 7

7.EE.B.4 Use variables to represent quantities in a real-world or mathematical problem, and construct simple equations and inequalities to solve problems by reasoning about the quantities

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

6 Clean Water and Sanitation

12 Responsible Consumption and Production

14 Life Below Water

Common Core Technical Career Standards

STEM Cluster: Engineering & Technology Career Pathway

ST-ET 1.3 Use computer applications to solve problems by creating and using algorithms, and through simulation and modeling techniques.

ST-ET 2.1 Select and use information technology tools to collect, analyze, synthesize and display data to solve problems.

ST-ET 3.1 Use knowledge, techniques, skills and modern tools necessary for engineering practice.

ST-ET 3.2 Describe the elements of good engineering practice (e.g., understanding customer needs, planning requirements analysis, using appropriate engineering tools, prototyping, testing, evaluating and verifying).

ST-ET 3.4 Illustrate the ability to characterize a plan and identify the necessary engineering tools that will produce a technical solution when given a problem statement.

ST-ET 4.1 Explain why and how the contributions of great innovators are important to society.

ST-ET 4.2 Explain the elements and steps of the design process and tools or techniques that can be used for each step.

ST-ET 4.3 Describe design constraints, criteria, and trade-offs in regard to variety of conditions (e.g., technology, cost, safety, society, environment, time, human resources, manufacturability).

ST-ET 5.1 Apply the design process using appropriate modeling and prototyping, testing, verification and implementation techniques.

ST-ET 5.2 Demonstrate the ability to evaluate a design or product and improve the design using testing, modeling and research.

ST-ET 5.3 Demonstrate the ability to record and organize information and test data during design evaluation.

STEM Cluster: Science and Math Career Pathway

ST-SM 1.1 Apply science and mathematics concepts and principles to resolve plans, projects, processes, issues or problems through methods of inquiry.

ST-SM 1.2 Use the skills and abilities in science and mathematics to access, share, and use data to develop plans, processes, projects and solutions.

ST-SM 1.3 Use the skills and abilities in science and mathematics to integrate solutions related to technical or engineering activities using the content and concepts related to the situations.

ST-SM 1.4 Explain the role of modeling in science and engineering.

ST-SM 1.5 Explain the use of models and simulation in hypothesis testing (i.e., the scientific method).

ST-SM 1.6 Communicate with others on inquiry or resolution of issues/problems in the global community.

ST-SM 2.1 Demonstrate the ability to recognize cause and effect when faced with assigned projects or issues.

ST-SM 2.4 Predict the outcomes based on data collected in a project or experiment.

ST-SM 2.9 Analyze change as a result of data differences and changing environmental values.

ST-SM 3.1 Evaluate the impact of science on society based on products and processes used in the real world.

ST-SM 3.3 Research how science and mathematics influence the professions and occupations supported by the STEM Career Cluster.

Information Technology Cluster: Programming & Software Development Career Pathway

IT-PRG 4.1 Employ tools in developing software applications.

IT-PRG 6.1 Explain programming language concepts.

IT-PRG 6.3 Demonstrate proficiency in developing an application using an appropriate programming language.

IT-PRG 6.4 Explain basic software systems implementation.

IT-PRG 7.1 Develop a software test plan.

IT-PRG 7.2 Perform testing and validation.