Dive into the world of water pollution with the "Trash in the Water" activity! Kids will explore the impact of trash on aquatic life and learn the importance of keeping our waters clean. Through hands-on play, they'll experience the challenges of pollution and the importance of conservation.
Reduce, Sustainability
Focused Vocabulary
Water Pollution
Reduce
Materials:
Tub
Water
Animal Toys
Assorted Trash
For Example:
Banana Peel
Aluminum Foil
Juice Boxes
Wax paper
Small Bottles/Bottle Caps
Slotted Spoons
Tongs
Nets
Individual Trays
Preparation:
Test the bin will hold water without leaking!
Background:
Did you know that water can get dirty and unhealthy because of trash? This is called water pollution! When we throw away things like plastic bottles, food wrappers, or even old juice boxes, they can end up in lakes, rivers, and oceans. This trash can harm the animals that live in the water, making it hard for them to find food and stay healthy.
In this activity, we’ll pretend to be caretakers of a beautiful lake. We'll see how trash affects the animals and learn how important it is to keep our water clean. By working together, we can help our animal friends and learn how to protect our environment!
Pre Activity Questions:
What happens when trash ends up in water like lakes/rivers or the ocean?
Directions:
Fill your tub with water (and optional blue food coloring) and lake animals.
Tell the students to use their imagination that this is a lake like Lake Dillon where lots of animals and fish live
Pull out the animals one by one and ask if they think the animals are happy and healthy in their clean water
Place the animals back in the lake and explain that we are going to show what happens when trash ends up in the water with the animals
Place little pieces of trash in the water and have students look again to see if the water looks nice for the animals to live in
This is called water pollution, when the water gets dirty because things that don’t belong there like trash end up in it
What do you think could happen to the animals when there is trash in their homes?
I.e. They could think it's food and get sick or they could get stuck in it.
Next, ask for a few volunteers who want to try to clean the water for the animals
Give the students the slotted spoons, tongs, nets to remove anything that doesn’t look like it belongs in the lake from the water so the animals will have a clean place to live.
Was that easy or hard? Would it be easy to remove all that trash from a bigger body of water like the ocean or real Lake Dillon?
Post Activity Questions:
Is it important to protect the clean water from getting polluted?
How can we make sure to keep the water around our homes clean?
This activity along with our additional Sustainability Activities were generously sponsored by the Copper Environmental Fund for continued education!
