Unit 6 Choice Board: Freeing the Ocean of Plastic

Why did Slat and his team decide against anchoring their plastic removal system to the ocean floor?

• The strong ocean currents and storms would damage the system

• The seabed was too deep for effective anchoring

• Anchoring the system would increase costs and require government approval

• They discovered that plastic accumulates in deeper parts of the ocean, making anchoring ineffective

The organization Ocean Cleanup is working to solve the problem of ocean pollution. What is one solution they've created?

• a vacuum designed by scientists and engineers that continuously pulls out trash that collects in the ocean

• a net that captures ocean animals and takes them to a new location where there isn’t plastic waste

• a large ring made with floating barriers that keeps plastic in one place so it doesn’t spread to the rest of the ocean

• a system with a large net, floating barriers, and moving boats that can collect plastic floating in the ocean

Read the following sentences from the text.

“The first step to developing a solution to this large problem was research. Slat needed to understand the plastic problem.... Through this research, they determined there were over 80,000 tons of plastic there as of 2020. During this research phase, Slat also realized that the plastic in these areas continues to accumulate. Over the years, these plastics break down into smaller and smaller pieces, eventually becoming microplastics. Microplastics are pieces of plastic that are about the size of a sesame seed or smaller, and they are even more difficult to remove from the ocean.... After carrying out this research, Slat created a list of concerns regarding plastic removal."

What conclusion can you draw about the role of research to Ocean Cleanup's goal?

• Research helps Ocean Cleanup learn more about microplastics and how they get into drinking water.

• Slat’s team does not need to do any research because Slat figures out all of the solutions to cleaning the plastic on his own.

• Slat’s team only had the time and money to do research for one system so they had to get it right the first time.

• Research is important to Ocean Cleanup because it helps them better understand the different parts of the problem they need to solve.

What is one example from the text that shows why repeated testing was important as Ocean Cleanup was developing their solution?

• They found that no trawl can actually capture microplastics because they are so small.

• They discovered that the plastic in the ocean floats a few meters below the ocean’s surface.

• They learned that they could not use a moving system and needed to use a fixed system.

• They created a way to capture animals in the trawl and move them to new locations.

What is the main idea of this text?

• Ocean Cleanup’s system today has a U-shaped barrier made from a large fishing net that has flotation devices along the top to help keep its shape and is connected to a vessel at each end.

• In 2020, there were 80,000 tons of plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is the largest of the five main areas where ocean currents concentrate plastic in the world.

• On Ocean Cleanup’s website, you can become a “Citizen Scientist” by identifying pollution hotspots and adding to the organization's research efforts to find where there is plastic collected.

• Boyan Slat’s organization Ocean Cleanup researched and repeatedly tested possible designs as they developed a method to remove the plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Read the following sentences from the text.

“Then, Slat and his team created scale models to test their many ideas. Scale models are much cheaper to use than full-size models because they are much smaller. They also provide engineers with the opportunity to test many different design variations quickly to see what works best and what new problems arise.”

As used in this sentence, what does the word “scale models” most closely mean?

• a large fishing net that is pulled through the water by boat to capture animals

• a smaller version of a bigger system that is cheaper to make and easier to test

• an anchoring system that can withstand strong ocean currents without moving

• a website where people all over the world can help identify pollution hotspots

Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below.

_________ the first system was built, Slat and his team continued to solve problems that came up and make improvements.

• Currently

• Before

• After

• Second

What was the main reason Boyan Slat and his team conducted an aerial survey of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

• To capture images for public awareness campaigns

• To conduct the first detailed analysis of the amount of plastic in the area

• To determine the exact number of sea creatures affected by plastic pollution

• To test new airplane technology for environmental research

According to the passage, what was one major adjustment made after the first system failed?

• The team redesigned the net to be anchored deeper into the ocean

• The speed at which the boats pulled the system was increased

• The plastic was sorted directly on the boats to reduce transport time

• The trawl nets were widened to cover a larger area of the ocean

Select TWO reasons the author included the map of the Great Garbage Patch at the beginning of the article.

• The author wanted to show readers the large area of the Garbage Patch.

• The author wanted to teach readers how to compare the Garbage Patch to France.

• The author wanted readers to know the location of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

• The author wanted to show readers a before and after image of the cleanup.