The giant, U-shaped tube is designed to form a garbage-corralling barrier propelled by wind and waves. Its creator hopes to remove half the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in five years. The first pieces of plastic trash captured by the Ocean Cleanup system at the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in mid-October. They include two plastic crates, five discarded fishing nets, several.

1. Great Pacific Garbage Patch Map

Most of us use plastic every day in some way or another. Some of us recycle the plastic, BUT some of us just throw it away. This week we will see just how devastating plastic in the ocean really is. Watch the video below as an introduction to this eye opening topic. Myth VS Reality WATCH – In the graphic overview you will find several myths and the truths behind each these myths. To Do – Make a list of the myth and describe its reality. Resources: Become an expert, make a difference, do something about it DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION???????

The Oceans Are Drowning in Plastic — And No One’s Paying Attention and become the expert on how plastic is ruining our oceans. There are several great, yet scary articles in this link that will show you what bad shape our oceans are in. After reading some of these articles, make a poster that outlines the most devastating facts you can find.

Take a picture of your poster and send it to bestology@bestinc.org. The BEST posters will be displayed on the BEST Robotics website and at the regional championships.

Design and innovation Can These Inventions Save Oceans From Our Plastic Habit? Here are some very interesting innovations that we are trying in order to clean up the plastic in our oceans. Go to this, and learn about these inventions. See if you can come up with an idea on how to collect plastics from the ocean. Brainstorm ideas and see if you can come up with a machine that can clean up plastic in the ocean. This is a great practice for brainstorming as you will be doing a lot of this during the BEST competition. Foreign Help – Let’s bring it local Click on this name,, and read about this incredibly smart young engineer and see how he is participating in • What are we as Americans doing to contribute to the Great Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean?

• What can we do to help prevent this? Discuss ways that you as an individual, you as a group of students at your school or in your community can work together to prevent this from getting worse.

POETS CORNER Below is a poem that Brian Lieu wrote about the devastation of plastic Plastic Brian Lieu It never goes away It kills, but can’t be killed The albatross was full What’s stopping us from being full one day? (We’re already fool) Our greatest phobia should be of it and of what it can do My greatest phobia should be of it and of the fact that I contributed Number 1 Polyethylene terephthalate Number 2 high-density polyethylene Number 3 polyvinyl chloride Number 4 Low-density polyethylene Number 5 polypropylene Number 6 polystyrene Number 7 Other What more lurks behind the darkness of Other? A new phobia in the development What more will be killed by Other? Fish are friends, not recycle bins Birds look better in the air than in the ground How much of the ocean will be inherited by Other? Underwater real estate is in demand How much more of Earth will be inherited by Other?

Now it’s time for you to become the poet. Write a small poem about the problem of plastic in the ocean. BEST Connection Look at your BEST kit, consumables and returnables and determine which of these could possibly land up as plastic garbage in our oceans. Once you have made your list then discuss how you can avoid this from happening.

Community Connection: Making the difference • What is the next step in plastic waste reduction? Do you think it starts with you? Or does it need to come from higher up? • What is your city, community, school district, neighborhood, or city doing to help with waste reduction? Bloom’s Taxonomy:add, create, explore, evaluate, generate, include, identify, list, observe, reflect, review, subdivide, use, and write Workforce Skills: critical thinking, materials evaluation, reading comprehension, science, writing Search Search for: Search bESTology 2.0. BESTology is a resource for schools (teams) participating in the nationwide BEST Robotics Program to learn educational and workforce development concepts revolving around the 2018 game – Current Events! Teachers: We encourage you to incorporate bESTology into your curriculum, summer camps, enrichment activities and more.

Great Pacific Garbage Patch Map

We have included a printable PDF document for your convenience. All videos have been previewed and embedded to ensure child safety. Students: Knowledge is Power! BESTology will teach you the skill sets to be successful in the workplace and in life. We challenge you to become a bESTologist! BESTology 2.0 will be posted throughout the Spring 2018.