Rubbish on the beach
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Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Working with Students
Further Resources
This task is about looking carefully and thinking about the things you see.
Here is a photograph of a beach.
Task administration:
This task can be completed online or using pencil and paper.
Students can answer the questions independently or in groups. In the trial students who worked independently sometimes had difficulty typing their observations and explanations on the computer. When students worked as a group their responses tended to be richer and more varied.
Below are a range of ways this resource can be used as a group task:
- Show the resource on an interactive whiteboard and work with the whole class.
Students can share and defend their ideas, and critique others' use of evidence. It also can facilitate students to notice more things, and build up their vocabulary.
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- Work in small groups, with one person writing the agreed explanation. Each group could then bring their responses together to look for similarities and differences.
Students negotiate what constitutes a sufficient or good answer, both within the group and more widely.
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- Combine independent work and class discussion. Allow students to work on their own device or paper and get them to take their time to look carefully at the first question. Get them to share their ideas with the group, and then look again for more things. Ask students to practice describing the things they see, e.g., adding colour and size to their descriptions of objects they can see.
Students can write their own response, before sharing with the group. They can use the ideas of others to help develop their thinking.
Copyright:
© Matauw | Dreamstime.com
Levels:
1, 2
Curriculum info:
Key Competencies:
Keywords:
Description of task:
Students look closely at a photograph taken on the beach and record their observations. They think and write about the consequences of the things they see.
Curriculum Links:
Science capabilities
The capabilities focus is brought about by the conversations you have and the questions you ask.
Capability: Gather and interpret data
This resource provides opportunities to discuss gathering data by careful observation and making meaning from the observation.
Science capability: Gather and interpret data
The capabilities focus is brought about by the conversations you have and the questions you ask.
Capability: Gather and interpret data
This resource provides opportunities to discuss gathering data by careful observation and making meaning from the observation.
Science capability: Gather and interpret data
Capability: Engage with science
This resource provides opportunities to discuss making decisions about real life issues.
Science capabilities:
Answers/responses:
| Question | What to look for |
| a).....things that belong on this beach | Objects found ‘naturally’ on a beach described, e.g., sticks, the sea, large stones/rocks, small stones/pebbles, shells, plants, seaweed/ kelp |
| b).....things that do not belong on this beach |
Objects that could be classified as a result of human action or pollution, e.g., white bottle top, plastic bottle, broken blue crate, bits of wood, clothing, plastic pipe, plastic bag, rope, bits of plastic, etc.
Don’t accept general terms, e.g., rubbish, trash, plastic.
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| c) Why is it bad to have things in b) on this beach |
The student describes what might happen to the rubbish on the sea shore and a possible effect or consequence, e.g.,
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| d) What might happen if these things got in the sea? |
The student describes what could happen to the rubbish in the sea and a possible effect or consequence, e.g.,
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Based on a sample of Year 2 and 3 students
Teaching and learning:
This activity requires students to observe closely and carefully describe the things they see. They are beginning to think about and describe how human actions can impact the natural environment.
Diagnostic and formative information:
| Questions | Student explanations |
| a)...things that belong on this beach |
Three quarters of students identified multiple things they would expect to find naturally on a beach.
A small number of students wrote down rubbish items or included ‘rubbish’ in the list of things that belong.
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b)...things that do not belong on this beach
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About half of students listed four or more items. In general, students named fewer things, than for the previous question. A reason for this is that students commonly used general terms such as ‘rubbish’ to describe all they saw, rather than specific objects in the photo.
A small number of students thought plants and cacti don’t belong on a beach.
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| c) Why is it bad to have things in b) on this beach? |
Students found it difficult to identify what could happen to the rubbish on the beach and suggest a possible effect or consequence, (cause and effect). An example of a question that refers to a cause and an effect is:
because it might go into the sea and sea animals might try to eat it and choke and die
Students far more commonly either recognised that the rubbish is a problem or stated a consequence, e.g.,
it could cut people
they could be sharp
because animals might swallow the plastic when it gets washed in by the tide
because if it goes into the water the animals will die
Some students know rubbish is bad, but didn’t explain why, e.g.,
because it's not nice
because it should be in the rubbish bin
because it is bad for the invirimnt [environment]
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| d) What might happen if these things got in the sea?” |
Students found it difficult to identify what could happen to the rubbish in the sea and suggest a possible effect or consequence, (cause and effect). About one quarter of students gave answers similar to the examples below:
because if the turtle eat the rubbish it will kill them
the sea live [life] might eat it and the would die
The majority of students recognised either that the rubbish is a problem if it gets into the sea, or suggested a consequence of the rubbish in the sea, e.g.,
see cretchers will eat it
the fish and the dolphins might die and all the other animals in the sea
make the sea creatures choke
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Patterns of responses from the trial of Year 2 and 3 students.
Next steps:
This activity focuses mainly on the Science Capabilities ‘Gather and interpret data’ and ‘Engage with Science’
The analysis of level 1 and 2 student results shows that when students worked in groups and were encouraged to share their observations and ideas, responses were generally more detailed and rich. Working independently most students could recognise a problem (cause) or recognise a consequence (effect), but infrequently linked an effect with its likely cause. Using this resource as a group task provides opportunity for teachers to scaffold students to make these links through the questions they ask.
Capability: Gather and interpret data
In this activity students need to make specific accurate observations using appropriate vocabulary.
Observation is an important skill to develop in science and is an aspect of the capability of gathering and interpreting data. Noticing what is there is an important first step that may help students think about the impact humans can have on the natural environment.
To help students who leave out specific detail in their observations, focus them on looking closely and carefully. Give them opportunities to describe what they see. Try the ARB resources: Classifying leaves, Whose nest is this?, and Moths and butterflies. A good strategy is to share observations, so they build on others' ideas.
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Encourage students to make specific and accurate observations.
- Are they describing what they can really see, or just applying a label, such as ‘rubbish’
- Are their observations backed up by specific details, e.g., colour, size.
- Ask students to point out the details.
- Can they make more than one observation?
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When marking student work look for opportunities for discussion.
- Ask students what they were thinking if they make an unexpected response. It may be they were using prior experience and their response could be a good discussion trigger, e.g., Do plants usually grow on a beach? What plants you might expect to see on a beach? Do you find the same sorts of plants on sandy and stoney beaches?
Capability: Engage with science
Using this resource as a group activity provides an opportunity for students to engage with science in a real life context.
To help students whose explanations are yet to show cause and effect thinking ask them “What might happen if" questions. This can be a great way to encourage students to think beyond what they simply see, e.g.,
- What might happen if a seabird picks up the piece of net?
- What might happen if the plastic crate got washed into the water?
- What might happen if a bird ate a plastic bottle top?
Students need the language to explain cause and effect relationships. Asking “Why do you think that?” can encourage students to form better explanations.
Science Knowledge
If students are to make accurate predictions of likely consequences they need knowledge about the particular context. In this context, finding out how plastic rubbish ‘behaves’ on land and sea environments (floats, doesn’t decay etc), and how animals are affected by and interact with plastics and rubbish, helps students to better assess consequences. Exploring the likely consequences of rubbish on the natural beach and sea environments also provides an opportunity for students to think at a ‘systems’ level. Discussing the individual parts of the system, both living and non-living, e.g., plants, stones, various rubbish types, birds, fish, sea water, etc., can help students make cause and effect links.
Other Level 1 and 2 ARBs that support knowledge acquisition and assist in the development of cause and effect thinking in this context are: Dogs at the beach, and A mystery photo.
Level 1 resources developing observation skills
Level 2 resources developing observation and thinking skills