The Arctic in the Classroom

 

I love getting out there and telling other people about how amazing Alaska is, and how awesome seabirds are! Seriously, they are awesome, they can tell us so much about the health of the ocean, including just how serious an issue plastic marine debris is for the ocean environment. I love sharing their story with everyone, because I think we can somehow give the world wings and take flight as we learn more about the health of seabirds. I have visited K-12 classrooms in Anchorage, Chugiak, Eagle River, Palmer, Wasilla, Talkeetna, Houston, Cordova, Stika, Soldotna, Fairbanks, North Pole, Wrangell Island, Unalaska, St. Paul, and Naknek to inform students about the global issue of marine debris and to promote environmental stewardship, with the hopes of visiting more communities and returning to some locations to catch up with folks and hear about all the wonderful things that have been happening! Some of the biggest news that I’ve recently heard is that Cordova will ban plastic bags and Styrofoam at the start of October 2016, a measure that passed thanks to the tireless work of folks at the Eyak Preservation Council.

 

Which brings me to my visit to Bering Straits, because I’m taking flight again... to Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island as part of The Arctic in the Classroom, a program started by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) that pairs scientists with teachers in northern Alaska to engage students in citizen science activities. Tracy DiPaola, the high school English teacher at the Savoonga school, is my awesome and wonderful teacher partner for this endeavor. Our goals: discuss the impacts of marine debris (especially plastic marine debris) on St. Lawrence Island ecosystems and ecosystems worldwide, and get a long term marine debris monitoring project started with high school students through the initiation of a land steward club! My time in Savoonga is unfortunately only limited to a week, but hopefully in that short time frame we will be able to have meaningful conversations with students about the harmful impacts marine debris has on the environment, particularly the animals, followed by discussions of how they can be a part of stemming the tide of marine debris by becoming stewards of the land and participating in marine debris cleanups regularly…

 

As I am writing this, my time in Savoonga is almost coming to a close, which allows me an opportunity to catch everyone up on how things are going! So far the 9th and 11th graders have been out to the beach down the road from the school to pick up debris. Weather cooperated the first day we went out with the 9th graders, perhaps making the experience a bit more enjoyable, but beach cleanups with students marched on, even on windier days! The 11th graders were troopers on a very windy day and actually managed to get a ton of styrofoam bits and pieces off the hill above the beach in a very short time - they counted 50 pieces of styrofoam actually. One of the 11th graders, Vadim, found an interesting piece of debris – a plastic cup with Russian markings! I sent a picture of the cup to my adviser in Anchorage, Doug. He said he would try to find a friend who could translate the words for me. I’ll follow up if someone figures out what it says.

 

However, the job is not over once the debris has been picked up. Once back in the classroom, students need to count and categorize the marine debris they collected. The larger categories include plastic, metal, paper, glass, and fishing gear, with subcategories listed under each of these. For example, the plastic category has many subcategories, including plastic bags, foam fragments, straws, etc. As the students count and categorize, the information they gather is entered into the marine debris tracking app, where folks from lots of other parts of the US and a few other parts of the world are also entering information about the marine debris they've been collecting. So far, the high schoolers have logged 244 items collected during their first marine debris cleanup trips! It was the first point on the tracker's map for Alaska, which was really exciting for the students! That information has also been placed on social media such as twitter, where people from all parts of the world can see the amazing work Savoonga students are doing!

 

Many of the items students collected were plastic, with foam pieces making up a large proportion. I pointed out to students just how small those pieces of Styrofoam can get, and asked them to consider what those small pieces of plastic might look like to animals like fish and birds. They suggested those little pieces might look like food to animals, and I pointed out that people have found evidence of ocean animals eating Styrofoam again and again around the world. In no time the students began to understand that eating plastic is not healthy for animals, especially animals they may harvest, because plastic does not provide nutrition to animals, nor does it allow them the opportunity to fatten up for longer winters. If you are planning to hunt these animals to eat, you would rather them have some meat worth eating on them, no? That point seemed to resonate with students, and hopefully it will continue to add meaning to why it is important to be good land stewards. The 10th graders will go out to collect marine debris at the beginning of this coming week. The job of cleaning up debris might seem never-ending, but hopefully students can remember that with each visit to the beach, with each piece of trash they pick up from the ground and place into the garbage bag, and with each piece of information they enter into the marine debris tracking app, they are taking care of their community, Savoonga, and the animals that live in it. On top of that, they are taking care of the planet by taking care of the place they call home, and they are part of a worldwide community of human beings caring for the earth and keeping it healthy for generations to come.