Class/Level: ESOL

Topic: Toxic Waste

Computer Time: 90 minutes

Objectives:

To get students to discuss and share opinions about the garbage problem we face in NYC and around the world.

Web Site:

Dangerous Debris

http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET /HTML/peril_marine_debris.html

Tutor Preparation: Get a world atlas showing Ducie Atoll, Pitcairn Island, South Pacific. Bookmark the Web site (above) on your class computers.

Learner Preparation (homework or class/small group brainstorming activity): Ask students to answer the following questions prior to conducting the Web component of this lesson:

* How many garbage cans or wastebaskets do you keep in your house?

* Do you have one in each room?

* Who takes care of the garbage in your home?

* Do you sort your garbage for recycling?

* On what days is the garbage collected on your block?

* Do you know of anyone who has gotten a ticket for not following the recycling rules?

* Where does your garbage go after it is picked up by the sanitation workers?

* Are there any similarities or differences in the ways garbage is treated in the U.S. and your native country?

* What garbage have you seen at the beach?

* Where do you think these items come from?

* What do you think will happen to them?

* How far do you think garbage can travel in the ocean?

* Make a list of all the things your family throws out in a day.

* Make a list of the kinds of garbage you have seen at the beach (i.e. bottles, cans, diapers).

Steps for Learners (a description of the process)

In the classroom

a. Divide students into pairs to discuss the homework/brainstorm results.

b. Ask the pairs to report back to the whole group in turn.

c. Give out directions and ask students to locate Ducie Atoll on a world atlas.

d. Ask student pairs to make a list of 5 items they would expect to find on the beach of the remote island, Ducie Atoll, an uninhabited island almost 3,000 miles from the nearest continent.

e. Tell students about the scientific survey conducted on the island (details on the Web site).

f. Have students go to the Dangerous Debris Web page.

g. Have them scroll down until they see the title, Even Desert Isles Become Dumps. They can read about the study done on Ducie Atoll and look at the inventory of litter to check their predictions.

h. While they are looking at the inventory, ask them to write down the three most common and the three strangest items found on the list. (Explain unfamiliar vocabulary to students, if necessary.)

i. In small groups, have students compare these items to the items on their homework list of garbage found at the beach.

Follow-up

Homework: Take the 3 items you thought were among the strangest found at Ducie Atoll. Write a story tracing their journey to the South Pacific Island. Be creative.