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PBS Iowa was kind enough to curate resources for this project.

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Sea Turtles | Classroom Resources Folder from PBS LearningMedia

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Inspire your students with thousands of free teaching resources including videos, lesson plans, and games aligned to state and national standards.

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Kids Take Action Against Ocean Plastic

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Kids Take Action Against Ocean Plastic | Short Film Showcase

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Teacher Violeta
Petkovska

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Детали

Објавено на Вторник, 30 Август 2016 00:19

Во Охридското езеро забележана е водна желка. Овие видео снимки ги направи охриѓанецот Љупчо Стојкоски - Лепи во близина на Лагадин.

Тој за Охриднет вели црвеноушестата желка ја забележал во Охридското езеро.

-Ја имам забележано неколку пати на различни локации. Се претпоставува дека несовесни лица ја имаат пуштено во езерските води. За жал никој не размислува дека може да има негативни последици врз еко системот на езерото, вели Стојкоски.

Црвеноушеста желка (науч. Trachemys scripta elegans) - полуводна желка од семејството на блатните желки (Emydidae). Ова е подвид на истоимената црвеноушеста желка (T. scripta) и претставува најпопуларна желка-миленик во светот. Присутна е како домородно животно во САД и северно Мексико, но денес ја има и на други места поради пуштање во дивина од сопственици. Во многу подрачја важи за инвазивен вид, каде се наметнува врз домородните видови и спаѓа во 100-те најнаметливи доведени видови во светот според Меѓународен сојуз за заштита на природата.

Оваа желка е речиси сосема водно животно, освен кога се сонча и кога положува јајца. На копно е прилично брза, а исто така е и добар пливач. Ловат плен и се обидуваат да го фатат, кога е можно. Се труди да избегне средби со грабливци и луѓе; кога ќе видат непријател, му бегаат со нивното познато „слизнување".

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ВИДЕО: Откриена водна желка во Охридското езеро

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Детали Објавено на Вторник, 30 Август 2016 00:19 Во Охридското езеро забележана е водна желка. Овие видео снимки ги направи охриѓанецот Љупчо Стојкоски - Лепи во близина на Лагадин. Тој за Охриднет вели црвеноушестата желка ја забележал во Охридското езеро. -Ја имам забележано неколку пати на различни локации.

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The Turtle Hospital, Marathon, FL. 144,133 likes · 15,868 talking about this · 40,740 were here. The Turtle Hospital is a 501(c)(3) charitable corporation.

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The Turtle Hospital

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Skype a Scientist matches your classroom, scout troop, or library with scientists for Q&amp;A sessions for free!

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curriculum that works well with our project

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Monterey Bay Aquarium Education Programs

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The Ocean, Plastic, and Me (Grades 6-8)

Explore a faraway island, the ocean water column and our homes to uncover our connections to the ocean we all share. Meet some ocean animals, and reflect on how our choices can positively and negatively affect them and their marine home.

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Explore a faraway island, the ocean water column and our homes to uncover our connections to the ocean we all share. Meet some ocean animals, and reflect on how our choices can positively and negatively affect them and their marine home.

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Learn about AI, machine learning, training data, and bias, while exploring ethical issues and how AI can be used to address world problems. Computer science is about so much more than coding! Enjoy Code.org’s first step in a new journey to teach more about AI throughout our curriculum.

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Florida could see a sea turtle baby boom—thanks to pandemic

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Florida could see a sea turtle baby boom—thanks to pandemic

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(article from National Geographic)

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It's among nature's greatest spectacles. Each year, thousands of sea turtle mothers clamber ashore on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of Florida, meticulously dig into the sand to lay their eggs, and then return to the sea. After incubating for around two months, the eggs-a single female can lay more than a hundred of them-hatch and the tiny turtles strive to reach the water.

Approximately 90 percent of sea turtle nesting in the United States happens on Florida's beaches, according to the Sea Turtle Conservancy, a Gainesville-based research and conservation organization. In the 2019 season, the state's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute documented more than 53,000 loggerhead turtle nests during its annual survey of 27 beaches. In addition to loggerheads, Florida hosts green and leatherback turtle nesting. Four other sea turtle species ply the world's waters-Kemp's ridley, olive ridley, hawksbill, and flatback-and the vast majority of all species are classified as threatened, endangered, or critically endangered.

During Florida's nesting season, which runs from March through October, the sands are normally awash with humans. This year the coronavirus pandemic severely curtailed travel and required some state jurisdictions to close their beaches for weeks. While this was a bust for sun worshippers, it may have been a boon to sea turtles. But 2020 has also been unprecedented in terms of the number of hurricanes battering the southeastern U.S. As this nesting season comes to a close, researchers share some initial findings and tips for how travelers-even grounded ones-can help protect sea turtles.

Rare reprieve from humans

One important question scientists are asking this year is whether fewer disturbances have led to more successful nesting. During sea turtle nesting, there can be "false crawls," in which a female encounters a distraction between the water and a prospective nesting site. Whether it's a camera-toting tourist, a beach chair, noise, or light, the sea turtle's plan is interrupted, sending the animal back to the ocean without laying eggs.

"We actually did find a significant difference during the beach closures and then after in terms of a successful rate of nesting," says Justin Perrault, director of research for the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, a Juno Beach-based nonprofit focused on education, research, and rehabilitation of sea turtles. The center has observed approximately 17,000 nests along Juno, Jupiter-Carlin, and Tequesta beaches this year. "During the closures, loggerheads successfully nested 61 percent of the time," he says. "When the beaches reopened, that number dropped to 46 percent."

On the southwestern Gulf coast, the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation 's Sea Turtle Program surveys 18 miles of beach between Sanibel Island and Redfish Pass. This year, staff documented record loggerhead nest counts, totaling 926. During the month of May, the false crawl rate was 23 percent lower than the same time last year. While the beaches they monitor weren't closed, beach parking was prohibited from March 18 through June 1 and there were state-issued stay-at-home orders.

Other scientists contend that the pandemic's effect has been more limited. The Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium's Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program, which monitors 35 miles of beach from Longboat Key through Venice, recorded 3,716 nests-the fourth-highest number in the 39-year history of the program. But because these beaches were off-limits for only a few weeks at the beginning of the nesting season, researchers are reluctant to make a connection with the closures.

At the Archie Carr National Wildlife Preserve in Brevard County, the UCF Marine Turtle Research Group has observed 12,968 loggerhead, 8,102 green, and 40 leatherback nests. The loggerhead counts were "within the range of what we'd expect," says director Kate Mansfield. The leatherbacks "had a good year," she says, and green turtles laid more than anticipated. "The turtles' food intake and quality of food available at the foraging areas play a role in determining if they will nest or not ... so the die was already cast in terms of what turtles would be nesting this season by the time the pandemic hit."

A surge in storms

Beyond human interaction, the Atlantic hurricane season (June through November) can affect nesting scenarios. During this record-breaking year that has produced 25 named storms by mid-October, the flooding and higher-than-usual tides that come with hurricanes have left a mark.

"Even though Hurricane Teddy didn't come close to Florida, there was significant wave action that caused quite a bit of erosion," says Perrault. "Once the shores ... are eroded, [the eggs] can roll around in the surf, or there can be tidal overwash, where water constantly goes over the nests and they can essentially drown."

Among 2020's storms, Perrault singles out Isaias, which skirted Florida's Atlantic Coast in early August. Along with causing billions of dollars in damages in the U.S. and beyond, the hurricane destroyed roughly 2,000 nests just within his center's observational area, he says.

Global temperatures are rising at a rate of 0.32 degrees Fahrenheit per decade since 1981, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. This has caused the oceans to warm, which helps fuel and intensify hurricanes.

Climate change is also skewing the sex ratios of some sea turtles, with experts noting a tilt toward female-heavy populations. "The pivotal temperature for sea turtle incubation is about 84 degrees," says David Godfrey, executive director of the Sea Turtle Conservancy. "This is the temperature that tends to produce 50 percent male and female. Cooler temperatures produce more males and hotter produces more females."

Poaching on the rise elsewhere

The pandemic has caused adverse effects at other nesting sites around the world. In Costa Rica, where hundreds of thousands of nests appear annually along its beaches, the lack of tourism has had a big impact, says Jimena Gutiérrrez, a Sea Turtle Conservancy biologist living in Tortuguero National Park.

"Because of COVID, one of the biggest observations that we have is the increasing levels of poaching on the beach," she says. "[Normally] the turtles are conserved because we have people that come to see them. Maybe in the long run, we will see good numbers because there is less boat traffic in the ocean, but right now reduced tourism is a downside for the turtles here."

In the Dominican Republic, Parque Nacional Jaragua and Isla Saona attract hundreds of nests every year. Yolanda León, a biologist and research professor at Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo, notes that spots like Isla Saona have doubled their nests in recent years thanks to beach patrollers who help deter poachers. But with fewer tourism dollars supporting local workers amid the pandemic, she worries for the conservationists as well as the turtles.

While Australia's nesting season is just beginning-it typically runs from October through February-some locals worry about a new tourist trend there. "We are seeing a massive increase in four-wheel drive vehicles on beaches and other tracks," says Debbie Ferguson, owner of Exmouth Dive & Whalesharks Ningaloo, on the country's west coast. "Our concern is that the turtles will have increased pressure, so, they may either not lay, or when they do, there will be more human influence affecting the success of the hatchlings making it to the sea."

Giving sea turtles a boost

In the U.S., the Endangered Species Act prohibits the harming of sea turtles and their nests, and Florida's Marine Turtle Protection Act limits sea turtle interactions to people associated with specific scientific, educational, and conservation organizations.

Several localities also take a proactive approach to protection. For example, in Broward County, which hosted 3,500 nests along its white sand shores last year, the Sea Turtle Conservation Program ropes off nesting sites and works with hotels and other coastal properties on initiatives such as installing turtle-friendly lighting.

Stephanie Kedzuf, a natural resources specialist for Broward County, advises travelers to refrain from taking photographs or using lights on night walks, which may disturb the nesting process.

Turtle-loving volunteers join beach cleanups, such as the monthly gatherings at Melbourne Beach and Cape Canaveral with the Sea Turtle Preservation Society, self-guided outings with the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, and the Trash Bash with the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center.

Beyond Florida, travelers can plan post-pandemic adventures to help scientists gather sea turtle data in Costa Rica and the Bahamas through the environmental nonprofit Earthwatch or rehabilitate sick turtles in Australia with Ocean 2 Earth Volunteers.

But anyone-whether on the beach or far from it-can make a difference by reducing reliance on single-use plastics, which make their way into waterways that feed oceans. "Using reusable water bottles, bags, cutlery, straws ... can greatly reduce the amount of plastic in the ocean," Kedzuf says, "which will benefit sea turtles and other marine life."

Based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Jesse Scott writes about travel, culture, food, and music for Lonely Planet, Condé Nast Traveler, theMiami New Times, and theFree Lance-Star, among others. Follow him onInstagram andTwitter.

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Florida could see a sea turtle baby boom-thanks to pandemic

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It's among nature's greatest spectacles. Each year, thousands of sea turtle mothers clamber ashore on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of Florida, meticulously dig into the sand to lay their eggs, and then return to the sea.

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10 Million Pounds

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This lists the logos of programs or partners of NG Education which have provided or contributed the content on this page. In collaboration with

Informal Assessment

The initial model, revised model, and Know and Need to Know chart provide insights into students' current understanding and ideas about ocean plastics and their movement around the globe.

1. Activate students' prior knowledge by posing a deceptively simple question: What is plastic, and where does it come from?

Instruct publishing teams to work together to brainstorm a list of everyday items made of plastics. Have teams share their lists with the whole class, highlighting points of agreement, disagreement, and uncertainty.

Once the class list is complete, instruct teams to write their own definition of plastics . Emphasize that this definition can and should change as they learn new information.

After teams share their definitions, ask a final question to activate students' prior knowledge about the topic of the video they will watch in Step two: Where do all the plastics come from? (Student answers will vary; take care not to correct inaccurate responses, as the upcoming video will provide information.)

2. Deepen students' understanding of plastics with an explanatory video.

Prepare students to watch the video Science 101: Plastics (5:45) by introducing key vocabulary they will hear in the video. Briefly introduce the following words and add them to the word wall.

Show the video and address any questions raised by students.

Prompt teams to update their definitions of plastics and then share their new definitions with the class.

3. Conduct a plastics audit in the classroom in order to understand the extent to which the modern world relies on plastics.

Distribute the Classroom Plastics Audit handout. Make sure each team selects a certain area of the classroom in which to search for plastics, as described on the handout.

Caution students that they may not always be able to tell if a material is a type of plastic or not. Plastics can often look and feel similar to rubber, fabric, foam, glass, wood, or metal. Some materials (including treated paper products) that don't look or feel like plastic may have a plastic coating or lining. Students can share their uncertainties with the class and discuss whether they think questionable materials should be classified as plastics or not.

Explain the difference between single-use and durable plastics: single-use, or disposable, plastics are designed to be used once and then thrown in the trash, whereas durable plastics are designed to be used many times.

After students have completed a comprehensive list of the plastics in their designated area, ask:

Did the amount of plastics in our classroom surprise you?

Were there any materials that sparked debate in your team about whether they were made of plastic or not?

What do you think will happen to all of this plastic? Where will it be 10 years from now, or 100 years from now?

If you collected all of your plastic trash for a day, how much space would it take up? What if you did this for a week, a month, or a year?

In conclusion, remind students that their magazine will contain an explanation of what plastics are, how they are made, and how they are used.

4. Facilitate a jigsaw reading activity about sources and impacts of ocean plastic.

Prior to the conclusion of the jigsaw activity, remind students that they are responsible for sharing information about their jigsaw resource with their publishing team. This information should help their publishing team refine their Ocean Plastics Movement Model.

If some groups finish their Reading Guides before others, those groups can begin updating their Ocean Plastics Movement Model with the new information they have learned.

When the Reading Guides are complete, use the Reading Guides Answer Key to assess students' understanding.

After assessment, Reading Guides should be placed in each publishing team's folder, where they can be consulted when publishing teams are working on other elements of their magazines.

5. Guide students to update their Ocean Plastics Movement Models.

Bring students back into their publishing teams. Instruct them to take out their Ocean Plastics Movement Models. Remind students that the final version of this model will be a central part of their unit project, but it is still under development. They have now learned a lot of new information, from many different resources, which they can use to update their models.

Instruct students to take turns in their publishing teams sharing information from their jigsaw resources that will improve their Ocean Plastics Movement Models. While one student is sharing information about their jigsaw resource, another student in their publishing team should add drawings to the model, while a third student writes a verbal explanation.

Because they will continue to revise their Ocean Plastics Movement Models over the course of this unit, remind students to use pencils. In addition, having different colored pencils for successive layers of revisions and additions may prove helpful.

Informal Assessment

Students' participation in discussions, their changing definition of plastics, their plastic audit handouts, and their Reading Guides responses all provide insights into students' current understanding about plastics as synthetic materials that come from natural resources, with impacts on society.

Extending the Learning

A school wide plastic waste audit is ambitious, messy, and incredibly informative! Often, an audit is used as a first step in creating a school wide plan for reducing waste. It requires time, space, materials, and significant planning and communication with students, families, administration, and custodial staff. In spite of these challenges, many schools have successfully completed school wide plastic waste audits-and your school can, too. Here are some resources that can help in your planning process.

In step four, one of the jigsaw resources, 10 Shocking Facts About Plastic Pollution, refers to incineration of plastic waste. Students reading this resource may be intrigued by incineration as a possible solution to the problem of plastic pollution. Scientists and policymakers have debated for decades whether burning plastics is any better for the environment than sending it to landfill. Meanwhile, advocates of zero waste and a circular economy would argue that our fundamental goal should be reducing the amount of plastic waste as much as possible so that none of it needs to be burned or buried at all. These four articles summarize the debate between burning or burying waste plastics.

Informal Assessment

Students' lab sheets, their participation in discussions, their developing Ocean Plastics Movement Model, and their responses to the exit ticket questions provide insights into their current understanding and ideas about oceanic circulation, and the relationships between models, data, and predictions.

Extending the Learning

Use these resources after students have developed their Ocean Plastics Movement Model to provide more information about the story of the Friendly Floatees and what they teach us about ocean currents.

The Geography of Ocean Currents is an activity that uses these concepts to predict the impacts of major oil spills.

Ocean Currents and Climate is a video resource that relates the concepts in this activity to climate change. This will help ensure students address all components in the MS-ESS2-6 Performance expectation, as this unit does not address the connection between oceanic circulation and regional climates.

Informal Assessment

Students' skits, their participation in discussions, and their developing ideas about their unit project provide insights into their current understanding about modeling the flow of matter (plastics) through systems (the hydrosphere).

Students' skits should include descriptions, both verbal and nonverbal, of the many forces that transport and degrade plastics.

Extending the Learning

To extend students' learning about marine debris, explore resources provided by the NOAA Marine Debris Program, especially those created for World Ocean Day in 2016. The Ocean Today Trash Talk Special Feature video (15:11) can be watched in its entirety or as shorter segments; consider showing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch(2:11) portion to help students understand how marine garbage patches are more like plastic soup than an island. Also check out the Trash Talk Webinar for educators.

Informal Assessment

Students' progress on their Ocean Plastics Movement Model, introduction to plastics, and glossary provide insights into their current ability to articulate scientific concepts in words and visual models. Their feedback to other teams and their reflection of gaps in their knowledge provide further evidence of their scientific communication skills.

Biology

Chemistry

Conservation

Earth Science

English Language Arts

Experiential Learning

Geography

Storytelling

Students will:

21st Century Student Outcomes

Information, Media, and Technology Skills

Learning and Innovation Skills

Life and Career Skills

21st Century Themes

Critical Thinking Skills

Analyzing

Applying

Creating

Understanding

Geographic Skills

Science and Engineering Practices

Analyzing and interpreting data

Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)

Developing and using models

Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

Planning and carrying out investigations

National Geography Standards MS-PS1-3: Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society. Standard 1: How to use maps and other geographic representations, geospatial technologies, and spatial thinking to understand and communicate information Standard 11: The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth's surface Standard 14: How human actions modify the physical environment Standard 8: The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems and biomes on Earth's surface Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.1.A: Come to discussions prepared, having read or researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.2: Analyze the main ideas and supporting details presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how the ideas clarify a topic, text, or issue under study. WHST.6-8.2: Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/experiments, or technical processes. WHST.6-8.2.A: Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories as appropriate to achieving purpose; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. Next Generation Science Standards Crosscutting Concept 2: Cause and Effect: Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems. Crosscutting Concept 4: Systems and system models HS. Earth's Systems: HS-ESS2-6. Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere. LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience: When the environment changes in ways that affect a place's physical characteristics, temperature, or availability of resources, some organisms survive and reproduce, others move to new locations, yet others move into the transformed environment, and some die. (secondary to 3-LS4-4) MS-ESS2-6: Develop and use a model to describe how unequal heating and rotation of the Earth cause patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation that determine regional climates. Science and Engineering Practice 1: Asking questions and defining problems Science and Engineering Practice 2: Developing and using models Science and Engineering Practice 3: Planning and carrying out investigations Science and Engineering Practice 6: Constructing explanations and designing solutions Science and Engineering Practice 8: Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

Also, prepare in advance:

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Tyson Brown, National Geographic Society

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National Geographic Society

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Clint Parks

Producer

Andre Gabrielli, National Geographic Society

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Clint Parks

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Students learn basic background information about the plastics crisis, including what defines plastics, where plastic pollution comes from, and how it gets into the ocean. Working together as part of a publishing team, they synthesize a variety of multimedia resources to create their own Ocean Plastics Movement Model explaining the forces that affect plastics on a global scale.

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Build the Change is a powerful way for children to express their hopes and dreams for the future with LEGO® bricks and other creative materials, plus their own imaginations. Build the Change explores really important topics to do with the environment and society - topics that matter to children.

Learning Through Play is an awesome way for children to tap into their imagination. It encourages collaboration and communication. And it doesn't end there. We're on a mission to give children a voice and use their ideas and visions to inspire leaders around the world!

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Build the Change is a powerful way for children to express their hopes and dreams for the future with LEGO® bricks and other creative materials, plus their own imaginations. Build the Change explores really important topics to do with the environment and society - topics that matter to children.

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By Amanda P. Jaksha and Stuart Thornton

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

People often think of ecosystems and the animals within them as separate from other ecosystems. The reality is that many ocean animals are migratory. Throughout the course of their lives, these migratory species will interact with a number of different ecosystems as they travel across the seas.

Sea turtles are migratory species that interact with a diverse array of marine plants and animals. There are seven species of sea turtle found all over the world, and females of all species return to the same beach that they hatched on to lay their own eggs.

One particular population of loggerhead sea turtles hatches their eggs on the coast of Japan. Although they are born in Japan, they don't necessarily spend their whole lives there. A small group of the turtles rides a large ocean current that takes them to feeding grounds about 12,000 kilometers (7,456 miles) away, in Baja California, Mexico.

Loggerheads have adapted their diet to the long journey. They usually eat bottom-dwelling invertebrates such as clams, mussels, crabs, and shrimp. Because bottom-dwelling organisms are not readily available as loggerheads journey across the open ocean, the turtles shift their diet, eating jellies, squid, floating egg clusters, and other surface-dwelling invertebrates.

Loggerhead migrations can take them through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an area in the Pacific Ocean where debris collects near the ocean surface. The turtles frequently ingest plastic bags and popped balloons floating in the garbage patch-they mistake these materials for their gelatinous prey.

While in the open ocean, loggerheads are susceptible to predators such as sharks. However, humans are their greatest threat, says Jeffrey Seminoff, program leader at the NOAA Fisheries Science Center's Marine Turtle and Assessment Program in La Jolla, California.

The turtles' interactions with marine fisheries are particularly dangerous, Seminoff says, "whether it is longlines or drift nets."

"Certainly with the loggerheads in the north Pacific, they are transitioning through a lot of habitats that have some pretty intense fishing pressures," he says. "Once they get into coastal habitats, there are threats of direct harvest. There are a number of countries throughout the Pacific Rim nations that still do harvest sea turtles, whether it's illegal or not."

Longlines are fishing lines that can be kilometers long and include hundreds, if not thousands, of baited hooks. Large fisheries that use longlines and gill nets are located in the loggerheads' migratory route off the west coast of North America. The sea turtles often become tangled in these gill nets, or mistake the longline bait for food. The fishing equipment is often unattended, and usually results in the drowning of trapped turtles.

Seminoff says fishermen and conservationists are attempting to reduce the unintentional capture of turtles in the Pacific. Strategies include changing the shape of hooks and attaching a device to the end of a trawl net that allows turtles to escape if they are caught.

"It's important, I think, to note that while the fisheries' bycatch is one of the biggest conservation challenges, there is also a cadre of scientists and conservation practitioners throughout the world that are trying to mitigate those impacts through creating these technological fixes to gear," Seminoff says.

Along their journey, loggerheads interact with many other species and ecosystems. They travel through ocean habitats filled with large fish such as tuna and swordfish. They migrate past the coral reefs around the Hawaiian Islands, swimming alongside humpback whales and dolphins. As loggerheads continue their journey through the kelp forests off the coast of California, they may see sea otters feeding on urchins or gray whales making their own migration to the warm lagoons of Baja. Once in Baja, the sea turtles may feed off invertebrates that found refuge in mangrove swamps.

A closer look at the journey of the loggerhead sea turtle reveals just how many of the world's ecosystems are connected. It also shows how nations must work together to conserve migrating species like the loggerhead.

"I think sea turtles in general, whether it's a loggerhead or any of the other species, really underscore habitat connectivity in the oceans . . . and really, from a conservation standpoint, it underscores the need for multinational cooperation when we are trying to conserve sea turtles," Seminoff says. "One nation can't solve all the problems."

Articles & Profiles

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The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

Writers

Stuart Thornton
Amanda P. Jaksha

Editors

Kristen Dell, National Geographic Society
Jeannie Evers, Emdash Editing
Lindsey Mohan, Ph.D.

Producers

Caryl-Sue, National Geographic Society
Zachary Michel

Works Cited

Jaksha, Amanda P. 2010. "Case Study: Loggerhead Sea Turtle." In One Ocean: A Guide for Teaching the Ocean in Grades 3 to 8, edited by Kristin Dell, Lindsey Mohan, and Chelsea Zillmer, 61. National Geographic Society: National Geographic Education Programs.

Last Updated

Nov. 1, 2011

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By Amanda P. Jaksha and Stuart Thornton Tuesday, November 1, 2011 People often think of ecosystems and the animals within them as separate from other ecosystems. The reality is that many ocean animals are migratory. Throughout the course of their lives, these migratory species will interact with a number of different ecosystems as they travel across the seas.

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Greece
We went with our students from 1rst junior high school of Markopoulo to Sea Turtle in Glyfada Athens, Greece. And we show injured turles in Mediteranian Sea

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Media Credits

The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

Last Updated

May 29, 2020

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Media Credits The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited. Last Updated May 29, 2020

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How our current reality impacts the environment...

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Stay-at-home orders have forced millions of people to stay indoors to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Now, as summer approaches and beaches remain void of people and pollution, sea turtles are finally able to nest peacefully - and they're thriving.

Sarah Hirsch, senior manager of research and data at Loggerhead Marinelife Center, told CBS News affiliate WPEC that "it's going to be a very good year for our leatherbacks."

"We're excited to see our turtles thrive in this environment," Hirsch said. "Our world has changed, but these turtles have been doing this for millions of years and it's just reassuring and gives us hope that the world is still going on."

David Godfrey, executive director of the Sea Turtle Conservancy, told CBS News in an email that thousands of turtles are currently migrating to nesting beaches in Florida and other areas in the Southeastern United States, and that "all of the potential positive impacts relate to changes in human behavior."

All seven species of sea turtles are endangered. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), the largest threats sea turtles face in the U.S. are damages to nesting habitats, accidentally getting captured by fishermen, debris entanglement and getting hit by marine vessels.

Godfrey explained that since there are far fewer people boating and operating cruise and container ships now, "the chances that turtles are going to be inadvertently struck and killed will be lower."

"All of the reduced human presence on the beach also means that there will be less garbage and other plastics entering the marine environment," Godfrey added. "Ingestion and entanglement in plastic and marine debris also are leading causes of injury to sea turtles."

A study conducted at the University of Florida in 2016 found that removing debris from the beach can increase the number of nests by as much as 200%.

In Juno Beach, Florida, researchers from the Loggerhead Marinelife Center have found at least 69 nests, which is "significantly more than normal" for the 9.5 miles of beach they include in their research, according to CBS Miami. According to the center, only 1 in 1,000 sea turtle hatchlings live to be adults, and all of the hatchlings the center takes in have ingested microplastics.

Florida reported more than 395,700 sea turtle nests in the 2019 nesting and hatching season, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Many nesting sites are along the beaches that double as popular tourist destinations, including in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and the Florida Keys. But now that the beaches are seeing fewer tourists, closed businesses, and many are still closed to the public, Godfrey said the beaches are darker.

"We expect that thousands of hatchlings that ordinarily would be disoriented by lights this nesting season will not be - and are more likely to survive to reach the sea," he said.

Nesting and hatching season lasts from March 1 to October 31.

In Tortuguero, Costa Rica, the Sea Turtle Conservancy announced Friday that they counted 45 leatherback turtle nests, three green turtle nests, and one hawksbill nest.

Nesting update from Sea Turtle Conservancy Tortuguero! Our team reports 45 leatherback nests and we just got our first...
Posted by Sea Turtle Conservancy on Friday, April 17, 2020

The first Kemp's ridley sea turtle nest was discovered in Texas on April 11, which the Padre Island Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery says is about 10 days earlier than last year. They wrote on Facebook that they hope it's a sign of a "busy nesting year."

FIRST KEMP'S RIDLEY NEST FOUND TODAY IN TEXAS! Someone was out "hiding" her eggs today... and it wasn't the Easter Bunny....
Posted by Padre Island NS Division of Sea Turtle Science & Recovery on Saturday, April 11, 2020

The Loggerhead Marinelife Center and other sea turtle researchers have said they are optimistic about how coronavirus will impact the rest of the nesting season.

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Sea turtles are finally thriving now that people are stuck indoors

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Stay-at-home orders have forced millions of people to stay indoors to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Now, as summer approaches and beaches remain void of people and pollution, sea turtles are finally able to nest peacefully - and they're thriving.

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Lead students in a class brainstorm to think about as many things made of plastic that they touched that day that they can remember. Record their ideas on chart paper. Note that students may continue to add to this list in future activities.

Ask students to look at the list that the class has generated and elicit their ideas about why plastic makes sense as a material to use for those items.

You may want to ask students to consider what these items would be like if they were made of wood, metal, or other materials to help them understand why manufacturers chose plastic for the items listed in their brainstorm. For example, what if toothbrush bristles were made of metal? What would be different about a glass or wood shampoo bottle?

2. Have students inventory the plastic used in their classroom.

Divide the room into a grid (5' x 6' units that go to the ceiling) and assign pairs or a small group of students to each unit of the grid.

Direct each group to quickly look around their grid unit and call out the first piece of plastic they see. Model for students writing those items on sticky notes (one sticky note per item).

Distribute sticky notes and give students five minutes to identify and record every item of plastic they can find in their grid unit.

3. Have students create a bar graph to visualize the data gathered by the teams.

Inform students that they will now be creating a bar graph so they can see which types of plastics are in their classroom.

Ask teams to group their sticky notes into like items based on the purpose of the plastic (e.g., food packaging, furniture, electronics).

Draw an x- and y-axis on the board. Label the x-axis "Types of Plastic Items" and label the y-axis with "Number of Plastic Items." Then, add the following categories of plastic on the x-axis:

Have students place their sticky notes along an x-axis on the board, creating a bar graph.

4. Facilitate students' analysis of the data with a debrief discussion.

Ask students what this data tells them about the plastic used in the classroom:

What kind of plastic is used the most? The least?

What plastics do the students bring in?

What is provided by the school?

Ask students to describe some of the differences in the characteristics of the plastics found in different categories (possible responses include: plastic in clothing is very thin and flexible, but furniture is hard and thick; some plastic is clear, and some is opaque; food packaging is sometimes mixed with paper, and electronic plastic is sometimes mixed with metal).

For each category, ask students:

When you do discard this plastic (quickly or after you've used it for a long time), how would you get rid of it (garbage, recycle, donation)?

What effects do you think this plastic might have when you discard it?

What are the implications for our school and community?

Can you think of any alternatives to this plastic that would serve the same or very similar purpose?

5. Introduce students to the problem of plastic pollution and their project.

Introduce the video, The Reality of Plastics,by reiterating that there are many fantastic uses for plastic, but the amazing properties of plastic come at a substantial environmental cost.

Tell students that they will be taking two-column notes as they watch. In one column, they should take notes on the facts that they learn from the video. In the other column, they note why those facts are important. In the second column, they should also note any opinions, thoughts, reactions, connections, or questions they have.

Watch the video The Reality of Plastics (2:08).

After the video, have students discuss with a partner:

What are two facts you learned from the video?

Why are these facts important to you?

Have several pairs share their discussion with the class.

6. Introduce students to the project.

Tell students that they have an opportunity to do something about the plastic problem. They are going to answer the question asked in the video, What solutions do you have to reduce the impact of plastic in our world?, and use their learning to develop a policy proposal for plastic waste reduction in the community.

Explain that they are going to learn about the impact of plastic on their community, collect data to use as evidence, identify solutions, and create a campaign for change. The class will vote on a proposal to be presented to actual decision-makers who can implement the solutions.

Project and distribute the Plastic Policy Proposal Description and Plastic Policy Proposal Brochure: Checklist and Rubric handouts to students for them to understand the criteria that they will be working toward.

Have students read through the project description and rubric and identify areas of confusion. Then, with a partner, have students summarize the criteria on the rubric.

Answer clarifying questions.

7. Have students complete the exit ticket.

On a piece of paper, have students respond to the following questions based on the data collected in this activity:

What are some ways that plastic has been useful for our class?

What are some ways that plastic is a problem?

What are some ways that our class is contributing to the plastic problem?

Collect the exit ticket and review responses.

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Lead students in a class brainstorm to think about as many things made of plastic that they touched that day that they can remember. Record their ideas on chart paper. Note that students may continue to add to this list in future activities.

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Plastic Pollution, Our Oceans, Our Future...

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Virtual Field Trip   The Turtle Hospital

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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What if we did not even have a landfill in the world?  What would happen?

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What if we did not even have a landfill in the world?  What would happen?

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Why can't sea turtles see that plastic bags aren't jelly fish?

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Why can't sea turtles see that plastic bags aren't jelly fish?

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Is it possible for a garbage patch to be bigger than the Great Pacific Patch?  

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Is it possible for a garbage patch to be bigger than the Great Pacific Patch?  

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What happens if the landfill fills up too much?

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What happens if the landfill fills up too much?

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What if people stop making plastic and just reuse plastic?  Then what would happen?

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What if people stop making plastic and just reuse plastic?  Then what would happen?

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How does oil get into the ocean when it is not an oil spill from a ship?

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How does oil get into the ocean when it is not an oil spill from a ship?

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How can oil ships be made safer to prevent oil spills?

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How can oil ships be made safer to prevent oil spills?

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Is it possible to make a machine that can clean up after an oil spill?

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Is it possible to make a machine that can clean up after an oil spill?

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How is plastic pollution shaping the future of our ocean?

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How is plastic pollution shaping the future of our ocean?

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Are there different types of styrofoam that can kill sea turtles?  

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Are there different types of styrofoam that can kill sea turtles?  

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How can we get people to stop using plastic?

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How can we get people to stop using plastic?

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Is there more trash in the ocean than marine life?

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*How much trash has even been in the ocean?
*What major companies have most of their products in the ocean?
*How much marine life dies from trash in the ocean?
*What marine life dies from trash in the ocean?
*Has any marine life gone extinct from trash/plastic?  What if it is a species we have yet to discover?
*Does marine life try to have a home in trash/plastic (shells)?
*What country produces the most trash/plastic?
*Are companies purposely putting their trash in the ocean? (yes/why?)
*How far out does the plastic go in the water?  How deep?
*What plastics are consumed most by sea life?
Are certain types of turtles affected more than others?