Introduction
Introduction: Safe and healthy oceans are home to many animals, including our sea turtles. Did you know each year sea turtles return to the beach to lay their eggs? Unfortunately, the trash and pollution in the ocean make this trip dangerous for turtles. Things like water bottles and plastic bags make is hard for turtles to find food and swim back to the beach. Throughout this WebQuest, you'll learn why sea turtles are important to the ocean and why it is hard for them to survive their journeys. You'll identify the ways that trash ends up in the ocean and create ideas on how we can stop this. With this information, you'll become a Sea Turtle Superhero and inspire others to help you keep our oceans clean and safe for sea turtles.
Guiding Questions: Why are sea turtles important to the ocean? How does trash end up in the ocean? How does trash in the ocean affect sea turtles? How can you protect sea turtles at school, at home, and at the beach?
Learning Objectives: Students will show how trash goes from people to the ocean, and how it affects sea turtles. Working in groups of 3, students will create a Canva Magic Studio presentation that shows the sequence of events from littering to suffering sea turtles and pollution. At the end of their presentation, they will explain their idea on how people can help protect our oceans and turtles at home, at school, and at the beach.
Task
Welcome,
You are now a member of the Sea Turtle Superhero committee! This is a team that is dedicated to saving turtles' lives and keeping our oceans pollution free. Your job as a member is to investigate how trash went from our school to the ocean, and what it is doing to our sea turtles. Then, you will create a plan for the entire Sea Turtle Superhero committee to do to help save them. You and your two partners will create a presentation using Canva Magic Studio to show the sequence of events and the plan you created. Your presentation should show realistic pictures that show what your solution will look like.
The presentation must have a section describing each of the following:
- Where trash comes from?
- How does trash affect sea turtles?
- Why are sea turtles important to the ocean?
- A timeline on trash from our schools to our oceans.
- Two solutions to our pollution problem in the ocean and why it will work.
- Images of the oceans after your solution created by AI.
The presentation must:
- Be creative and original
- Include images, graphs, diagrams, and descriptions
- Be engaging to those you are presenting to
After the presentation is completed, your Sea Turtle Superhero Committee will present your ideas to the class and teach others how to help you prevent pollution in our oceans and save as many sea turtles as possible.
Process
- Students will be placed into randomly selected groups of 3
- Students will form their Sea Turtle Superhero Committee and assign roles based on who is stronger at designing and researching. (All students must participate in presenting)
- Research the topic using textbooks in the classroom, photographs online, watching videos, and specific websites provided as a team.
- Organize research into sections and find supporting images.
- Create a presentation as a team on Canva Magic Studio based on the research gathered in step 3. Each presentation should include graphs, images, and descriptions of the following information:
- Where trash comes from?
- How does trash affect sea turtles?
- Why are sea turtles important to the ocean?
- A timeline on trash from our schools to our oceans.
- Two solutions to our pollution problem in the ocean and why it will work.
- Images of the oceans after your solution created by AI.
- Share your presentation to the class
- All students must present
- Information must be clean
- After the presentation
- Students will sign a pledge to keep their beaches clean
- Students will sign a pledge to throw all of their trash in the correct bins
- Sign up for a local beach clean-up (Optional)
Evaluation
- Teamwork
- Needs improvement (1 point)- Very little teamwork and one person participated in all steps.
- Fair (2 points)- Some participated and some did not participate in all steps.
- Good (3 points)- Everyone worked together and some participated in all of the steps.
- Excellent (4 points) - Everyone worked together and participated in all steps.
- Research
- Needs improvement (1 point)- There was little to no research and entire presentation is based on opinions.
- Fair (2 points)- Not all of the questions are answered and there is missing information.
- Good (3 points)- Most of the information is accurate and all questions are answered.
- Excellent (4 points)- Accurate and answered all of the questions.
- Presentation
- Needs improvement (1 point)- Difficult to follow and not organized. Includes no images and diagrams.
- Fair (2 points)- Somewhat organized but not fully. Includes minimal images and diagrams.
- Good (3 points)- Mostly organized but some facts are not in the right section. There are few images and diagrams.
- Excellent (4 points)- Clear points and organized well. There are multiple images and diagrams throughout the presentation.
- Accuracy
- Needs improvement (1 point)- Multiple errors on each section of presentation.
- Fair (2 points)- Few errors on each section of the presentation.
- Good (3 points)- Minor errors on some parts of the presentation.
- Excellent (4 points)- All facts across presentation are correct.
- Creativity
- Needs improvement (1 point)- No visuals and ideas are not original.
- Fair (2 points)- Few Visuals and half of the ideas are original.
- Good (3 points)- Good visuals and most of the ideas are original.
- Excellent (4 points)- Excellent visuals and original ideas.
Conclusion
Congratulations Sea Turtle Superheroes!
You have successfully created a plan to save sea turtles and decrease pollution in our oceans. This plan can be used by you and others in your community to make a difference in the ecosystem around you. You also learned why it is important to know where your trash is going and how it plays a key role in sea turtle's lives, as well as your own.