This lesson includes multiple options for the “taking informed action” task. Consider mixing and matching them in a way that works well for your students and situation. 

If your students completed the summative performance task for this lesson, they will have already created slideshow presentations and/or pamphlets about what they have learned about trash pollution in bodies of water. Take this assessment to the “next level” by having the students use them to either instigate or improve local cleanup efforts. Take, for example, the following possible scenarios…

• Every quarter, your school hosts a trash cleanup day in a nearby park. Your students could use their presentations/pamphlets to encourage more people (students at your school, students from other schools, parents, community members, etc.) to participate in the event. 
• Your students want to host a trash cleanup day in a nearby park. They use their presentations/pamphlets to try to convince their principal, a school club, and/or a local organization to give their permission/support for the event. 
• Every year, the “environmentalists club” at your school hosts a trash cleanup day in a nearby park. Your students think it would be better if they put their time, effort, and money towards enforcing proper waste disposal policies instead (i.e. prevention rather than reaction). The students use their presentations/pamphlets to help them convince the club to team up with them to enact their own plans. 

Help your students host a cleanup day at a nearby park. They might use the presentations/pamphlets they created for their summative performance task to advertise for the event. In addition to educating the public and picking up trash, the students should try to incorporate the Marine Debris Tracker app into their event.

Have your students team up with a school or local organization to enhance a cleanup day that is already planned. They might use the presentations/pamphlets they created for their summative performance task to convince the organization to work with them and/or advertise for the event. One of the students’ goals should be to incorporate the Marine Debris Tracker app into the event. 

During one of the activities in this lesson, the students brainstormed solutions to local trash pollution problems. As their “taking informed action” activity, the students could choose one of these solutions and actually enact it. For example, the students could work together to launch an awareness campaign or invent a more effective trash can design (like one that doesn’t allow for overfilling). 

Have the students write a 300-500 word essay about what they learned during this lesson and how it could apply to their solution plans. For example, completing the Marine Debris Tracker may have given some students a better idea of which body of water they want to use as their local testing site or what kind of civic action they want to do. Similarly, the students might write about the communication mediums they used during this lesson (e.g. pamphlets, presentations, etc.).