The Plastic Problem

The Plastic Problem

NEW YORK, New York. There is plastic in the ocean. This can potentially be harmful to fish and other wildlife. Now, there’s a new study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study suggests that there is less floating plastic in the world’s oceans than once thought.

The study drew on results from research done using a ship. The ship went around the world. It used a net to captured floating debris at 141 different spots. Based on the amount of plastic the net caught, researchers guessed at the total amount of floating plastic debris in the open ocean. They decided there is about 7,000 to 35,000 tons (6,350 to 31,751 metric tons). That’s less than once thought, said Andrés Cózar of the University of Cádiz in Spain. There is data about floating plastic in the world’s oceans going back to the 1970s. Based on this data, scientists thought there were about 1 million tons (907,185 metric tons) of floating plastic.

Scientists have long been concerned about plastic pollution in the ocean. Plastic debris from land reaches the ocean mostly through storm water runoff. Because of winds and ocean currents, much of it ends up in “patches.” Two of these areas are called the Western and Eastern Pacific Garbage Patches. However, there are other patches as well. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact location and amount of plastic in the world’s oceans. That’s because winds and currents move the debris.

The new research found that plastic is all over. But the amount of plastic in the patches was highest in five areas. These were predicted by ocean current patterns. They are west of the U.S., between the U.S. and Africa, west of southern South America, and east and west of the southern tip of Africa.

How big were the plastic pieces caught by the research ship’s net? Most were less than about a fifth of an inch (2.5 centimeters) long. Some floating pieces are small when they enter the ocean. These include tiny plastic beads from some toothpastes and skin care products. There are also small plastic pellets used to make plastic products. Waves can break up larger objects. Things like bottle caps, detergent bottles, and shopping bags can break apart.

The net turned up fewer small pieces than expected. Researchers say it will be important to figure out why. Perhaps small fish are eating the tiniest pieces. Scientists don’t know how eating plastic would affect the fish. They do know that animals can mistake plastic for food. They also know that plastics can be deadly when eaten. They contain harmful chemicals. Eating plastic can make an animal unhealthy. It can also cause the animal to starve. That’s because once plastic is in the stomach, it can make an animal feel full.

Kara Lavender Law studies plastic pollution but was not involved in the new study. Law agreed that scientists don’t fully understand what is happening to fish and birds that come into contact with plastic. It’s difficult to know how much plastic the animals eat or how they might be harmed. Still, she said, plastic in the ocean is never a good thing. And while there may be less plastic than once thought, any amount is too much.

“We are putting…a large amount of a [harmful] material into a natural environment,” Law said. She added that this is “changing the composition of the ocean.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Dig Deeper

Every part of the ocean is polluted. Solid waste is a form of pollution. You can see it along ocean shorelines. This waste includes plastic garbage and tar balls. It also includes hypodermic needles. Trash washes up on beaches worldwide. It even washes up on the beaches of faraway islands. Sea animals may mistake trash for food. They might eat plastic. The plastic can block their digestive systems. Animals also get tangled in plastic waste. They can even be strangled by it.

Most ocean pollution is harder to see than solid waste. Chemical pollutants and nuclear wastes are found in all parts of the ocean; so are heavy metals like mercury and lead. These pollutants are known to harm and kill ocean life. They are also harmful to humans. Pregnant women are sometimes told not to eat tuna and other fish. This is because the fish may contain low levels of toxic mercury. The small amounts of mercury may not harm an adult. But they could damage the developing child.

Human waste and sewage have caused dead zones in the ocean; so have fertilizers. Dead zones are areas where no plants or animals can live. The pollutants named above contain nutrients. They cause a huge rise in the amount of algae that live in an area. When the algae die, bacteria consume them. The large numbers of bacteria use up all the oxygen in an area of ocean. The animals in the area cannot survive without oxygen.

Some pollutants are dumped directly into the ocean. Many others wash from the land into the ocean. They may also wash into rivers that flow into the ocean. Oil spills are dramatic events. They kill many animals. But they make up only a small percentage of the oil pollution in the ocean. More oil enters the ocean by washing off the land than by being spilled. Pesticides also wash into the ocean from land; so do fertilizers and many other pollutants.

Remember that the ocean is a connected global body of water. Ocean currents circulate water around the globe. They carry pollutants to all parts of the ocean. Pollution that happens in any part of the world can affect the whole ocean. The United Nations made a law in 1994. It is called the Law of the Sea. The law tries to manage ocean resources. It also attempts to conserve ocean environments. The law calls on all countries to enforce pollution controls. It also sets pollution rules for ships in international waters. It regulates fishing. And it attempts to divide rights to undersea resources. This law is an important step toward protecting the ocean and its resources for future generations.

Question 1

Based on the article, which best replaces the question mark in the box above?

Scientists have long been concerned about plastic pollution in the ocean.

Scientists have found that there is less plastic in the world’s oceans than once thought.

Scientists have found plastic patches west of the U.S. and between the U.S. and Africa.

Scientists have been known to use ships equipped with nets to help with studies.

Question 2

The reader can tell from the article that __________.

Kara Lavender Law contributes greatly to the problem of plastic in the ocean.

The plastic floating near Africa won’t actually change the composition of the ocean.

More plastic can be found in the world’s oceans than was observed by scientists.

Many people will swallow the plastic beads in toothpastes and get sick.

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Question 7

Question 8

Directions: In the box below, create a 20 words or fewer summary of the entire article.

What are 3 transition words in the article?

What are 3 “signal words” in the questions?

How many “long” paragraphs are in the article?

DRE 098 Writing Assignment #1

Purpose: Using your best writing skills, draft a thesis and 2 well-organized body paragraphs in which you claim whether or not trash affects ocean life. Your thesis with a plan of development will contain two reasons how trash affects or does not affect ocean life. Dedicate one body paragraph to ONE reason that supports your claim. Dedicate another body paragraph to a SECOND reason that supports your claim.

Organization: You must have a robust and sophisticated thesis statement. Each body paragraph must start with a thorough topic sentence that contains ONE reason (and only ONE reason) that supports each part of your claim. Further, you must provide supporting details and commentary that elaborates on the reasons. You must have two (2) pieces of cited evidence from the text. Punctual class attendance is necessary to learn the exact guidelines you need to follow when including this evidence.

Audience: Head researcher of ocean pollution for Rocky Mount Public Schools.

Tone: You are expected to maintain a positive and sincere tone. Sarcasm is unwarranted for this assignment. Use the third person and third person pronouns.

Summarize the Writing Assignment Sheet here:

Topic of the paper?

When is it due?

Where is it due?

Pre-writing for Body Paragraph 1

Pre-writing for Body Paragraph 2

Drafting a Thesis Statement

Experienced writers can write engaging thesis sentences because they have a variety of templates in their heads. Check out the templates below and use them to write an engaging topic sentence.

GOOD THESIS STATEMENT TEMPLATES

______________________________________ because _________________and ___________________.

Claim goes here                                                R1                                 R2

BETTER THESIS STATEMENT: RE-WRITE THE SENTENCE ABOVE BUT ELEVATE YOUR VOCABULARY

______________________________________ because _________________and ___________________.

Claim goes here                                                R1                                  R2

FINAL THESIS STATEMENT

_____________________________________________________________________________________.

Creating Your Work Cited Page

Directions: Examine the example below and use it as a template when you create your Work Cited page for “The Plastic Problem.”

Work Cited

“The Plastic Problem.”  Achieve3000.Inc., 11 Sept. 2014.  Article, p. 1.

portal.achieve3000.com/kb/lesson/?lid=16818&step=11.

Revision and Proofreading Checklist for Writing Assignment #1

Revising and Proofreading: It is time for YOU to revise YOUR own paper. Answer the following questions. Your answers may FORCE you to go back and make changes to your Google doc.

Revising and Editing

• Check your formatting
  • Take a pencil or pen and put a check beside
    • your name,
    • Fuller’s name
    • Course’s name
    • The due date
    • Check to be sure title is centered—not bolded, not italicized, not in quotes—it should be in the same font as the rest of paper
  • Check work cited page to ensure that the words   Work Cited is centered on the top of the page. The W and the C are capitalized.

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• Highlight topic sentence of body paragraph #1 and concluding sentence in the same color
  • Pua squiggly line under the reason part of the topic sentence
    • Draw at straight line under the claim/opinion part of the topic sentence
  • Draw a circle around the word because in the topic sentence.
  • Put a squiggly line under the reason part of the concluding sentence. Draw a straight line under the claim/opinion part of the concluding sentence
  • Draw a circle around the word because in the concluding sentence.
• Get different color highlighter and highlight the sentence that begins with According to the …..
  • Find Achieve3000-be sure it is in italics, the put article title in quotation marks—be sure you use correct capitalization in the title—be sure a comma is after the last word in the title
  • Write 1, 2, 3, 4 over the quotation marks in the According to… sentence—there must be 4 quotation marks in this sentence
• Highlight sentence that starts with, This quote means
  • Draw a circle around every word in the This quote means sentence that relates to the squiggle lined section of the topic sentence—draw a line up from each of those words in topic sentence that it is related to
    • How many words did you circle in the sentence? There must be 3 or more circles—if not you must add words to the This quote means sentence that relate to the reason in the topic sentence (squiggle line)
    • Examine the  This quote means sentence and draw a box around every word that relates to the quote. At least TWO words in the This quote means sentence have to have a obvious relationship with two words from the quote.
    • Examine the This quote means sentence and REMOVE the word you or your if it appears in this sentence.
  • Highlight the sentence that begins with Therefore
    • Look at the part of the topic sentence with the straight line under it—are they nearly the same? They should be, but they should not be identical. If it is identical (all the words are the same), improve the vocabulary of the Therefore
      • The Therefore sentence needs to have different vocabulary–use the thesaurus—
    • Examine the Therefore sentence and REMOVE the word you or your if it appears in this sentence.
  • Get another color highlighter and highlight the sentence that begins with For example,–improve your vocabulary and put   “For instance” or “To illustrate”
    • Highlight every sentence from the example section—how many sentences are in the example section. You must have 3 or more sentences in the example section. If you do not, you must add more sentences
    • Circle every word individually in the example section that relates to the entire topic sentence—write the number of the words you circled and put that number off to the side of the example section. The goal is 6 word. That means that there has to be at least 6 words in the example section that have a strong relationship to the topic sentence.
    • Examine your example section and circle all you (s) and your (s)—REMOVE these words. They are NOT allowed.
  • Get another color highlighter and highlight the sentences that ANSWER the questions you made. (These sentences come after your topic sentence but BEFORE your “According to …” sentence.)
    • Highlight every sentence from this section—how many sentences are in the example section. You must have 3 or more sentences in the example section. If you do not, you must add more sentences
    • Circle every word individually in the example section that relates to the entire topic sentence—write the number of the words you circled and put that number off to the side of this section. The goal is 6 word. That means that there has to be at least 6 words in this section that have a strong relationship to the topic sentence.
    • Examine your example section and circle all you (s) and your (s)—REMOVE these words. They are NOT allowed.

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• Highlight topic sentence of body paragraph #2 and concluding sentence in the same color
  • Put a squiggly line under the reason part of the topic sentence
    • Is this reason the same as the second reason mentioned in your thesis?
  • Draw a straight line under the claim/opinion part of the topic sentence
  • Draw a circle around the word because in the topic sentence.
  • Put a squiggly line under the reason part of the concluding sentence
  • Draw a straight line under the claim/opinion part of the concluding sentence
  • Draw a circle around the word because in the concluding sentence.
• Get different color highlighter and highlight the sentence that begins with According to the …..
  • Find Achieve3000-be sure it is in italics, the put article title in quotation marks—be sure you use correct capitalization in the title—be sure a comma is after the last word in the title
  • Write 1, 2, 3, 4 over the quotation marks in the According to… sentence—there must be 4 quotation marks in this sentence
• Highlight sentence that starts with, This quote means
  • Draw a circle around every word in the This quote means sentence that relates to the squiggle lined section of the topic sentence—draw a line up from each of those words in topic sentence that it is related to
    • How many words did you circle in the sentence? There must be 3 or more circles—if not you must add words to the This quote means sentence that relate to the reason in the topic sentence (squiggle line)
    • Examine the  This quote means sentence and draw a box around every word that relates to the quote. At least TWO words in the This quote means sentence have to have a obvious relationship with two words from the quote.
    • Examine the This quote means sentence and REMOVE the word you or your if it appears in this sentence.
  • Highlight the sentence that begins with Therefore
    • Look at the part of the topic sentence with the straight line under it—are they nearly the same? They should be, but they should not be identical. If it is identical (all the words are the same), improve the vocabulary of the Therefore
      • The Therefore sentence needs to have different vocabulary–use the thesaurus—
    • Examine the Therefore sentence and REMOVE the word you or your if it appears in this sentence.
  • Get another color highlighter and highlight the sentence that begins with For example,–improve your vocabulary and put   “For instance” or “To illustrate”
    • Highlight every sentence from the example section—how many sentences are in the example section. You must have 3 or more sentences in the example section. If you do not, you must add more sentences
    • Circle every word individually in the example section that relates to the entire topic sentence—write the number of the words you circled and put that number off to the side of the example section. The goal is 6 word. That means that there has to be at least 6 words in the example section that have a strong relationship to the topic sentence.
    • Examine your example section and circle all you (s) and your (s)—REMOVE these words. They are NOT allowed.
  • Get another color highlighter and highlight the sentences that ANSWER the questions you made. (These sentences come after your topic sentence but BEFORE your “According to …” sentence.)
    • Highlight every sentence from this section—how many sentences are in the example section. You must have 3 or more sentences in the example section. If you do not, you must add more sentences
    • Circle every word individually in the example section that relates to the entire topic sentence—write the number of the words you circled and put that number off to the side of this section. The goal is 6 word. That means that there has to be at least 6 words in this section that have a strong relationship to the topic sentence.
    • Examine your example section and circle all you (s) and your (s)—REMOVE these words. They are NOT allowed.

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• Make sure you do not have–I, me, my—in your paper
• Find all sentences in the paper with apostrophes in the paper—it looks like this ‘ and it shows ownership–example—job seeker’s—check the topic sentence and it should be job seekers’ social media OR job seeker’s social media—
• No contractions in the paper—don’t should be do not—didn’t should be do not—won’t should be will not
• Do not change any contractions–IF they are in a quote

Visual of the Final Draft

This is a good place to take notes.