Ocean Cleanup Webpicks

The Ocean Cleanup non-profit organisation is hoping to remove vast quantities of plastic pollution from the oceans. Here are some articles and videos you could use to introduce your pupils to this topic.

To set the scene, and with lower-level pupils, there is an article provided at A1+, A2 and B1 levels about Ocean Cleanup in the Banque de ressources anglais cycle 4. To see the resources, register now or log in if you already have an account:
Articles de presse > A1+, A2, B1 > Transition écologique et développement durable > "The Ocean Clean Up".

There are also suggestions for using it as part of a sequence on young inventors in English Tracks 4e, which accompanies the BRNE.

Comparing Videos
These two videos from The Ocean Cleanup are excellent for class use.

The animated one can be used from B1, the documentary from B1+. Either could be used on its own to explain the problem of plastic pollution. Or different groups could watch each of the films. (Using subtitles on the second video would make the skills more similar between the two.)

Even more interesting would be to have pupils compare the two videos, which give similar information in different formats. The first is an animated information film with a scripted voiceover and onscreen graphics. The second film is of Boyan Slat, the young man who invented the Ocean Cleanup system, describing how they went about doing their research on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and what the research showed. His language is more spontaneous and natural, in storytelling mode, and some pupils may feel that it feels more real to see Slat and the researchers handling the plastic rubbish than to see graphics of it.

Slat is not a native speaker but his English is excellent, with almost no accent, and should not cause any problems for pupils. The first five minutes of the video correspond best to the other video.

An excellent communication task would be to have pupils prepare bullet points and then use them to try to persuade captains of boats to participate in the “Mega Expedition” to trawl through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to take representative samples of the plastic found there, just as Boyan Slat had to do. What arguments would make the captains willing to give up their time to participate? The Ocean Cleanup site is a good source of information.

 

https://www.theoceancleanup.com/about/

There is an article provided at A1+, A2 and B1 levels about Ocean Cleanup in the Banque de ressources anglais cycle 4. To see the resources, register now or log in if you already have an account:
Articles de presse > A1+, A2, B1 > Transition écologique et développement durable > "The Ocean Clean Up".

There are also suggestions for using it as part of a sequence on young inventors in English Tracks 4e, which accompanies the BRNE.