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Oct 11th, 2022
Invention to Clean Oceans
By:
Fluxspace
🎓 Grade Level —
K-4
⌛ Time to Read —
Overview
📥 Includes —
3 min
Materials
No items found.

Invention to Clean Oceans

AI Summary:

Marine pollution, predominantly originating from land-based sources (approximately 80%), poses a significant threat to oceanic ecosystems. In cities like Philadelphia, outdated sewage systems can overflow during heavy rainfall, channeling untreated runoff—containing fertilizers, oils, plastics, and other debris—into waterways that lead to the ocean. Annually, about 8.8 million tons of plastic enter marine environments, forming vast accumulations like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which contains an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of debris. These pollutants have devastating impacts on marine life, with over 700 species affected through ingestion or entanglement. If current trends persist, scientists project that oceanic plastic content could triple by 2050, intensifying ecological degradation.


Consider This

Marine or ocean pollution is pollution in the sea and it is a form of water pollution. Approximately 80% of ocean pollution starts from land! Philadelphia has the oldest sewage system in the world, which is remarkable, but sometimes when it rains, there's too much rainwater to fit in the sewage system! That excess water streams directly into local streams and rivers. Fertilizer from lawns and farms, motor oil, sewage, plastic, and trash get swept up by that excess rainwater and eventually flow into the ocean. 8.8 million tons of plastic winds up in the ocean every year—that’s as if you stacked up five plastic grocery bags full of trash on top of each other on every foot of coastline in the world. There’s so much junk at sea, the debris has formed giant garbage patches. There are five of them around the world, and the largest — the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — includes an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of trash and covers an area twice the size of Texas. Over 700 species of marine animals have been reported to have eaten or been entangled in plastic. Scientists think that the amount of plastic in the ocean might triple by 2050—and that would mean seriously bad news for the ocean and the creatures that live there.

Key Terms

brackish estuary: (noun) where a river meets an ocean, causing water that is part salty and part fresh

pollution: (noun) introduction of harmful materials into the environment

microplastics: (noun) fragments of any type of plastic less than 5mm in length

water cycle: (noun) movement of water between atmosphere, land, and ocean

Resources

Check out this visualization of how watersheds work and see your local watershed in action!

https://modelmywatershed.org

Project Examples

Have a solution to this challenge you want to share? Take a photo or video of your prototype, post it on social media, and don’t forget to tag us @fluxspace_io

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