43 Days ‘Til the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day: Animals Living in a World of Plastic

Plastic and other forms of waste are taking over the ocean, and sea creatures are suffering. They get caught in the plastic and even consume it. According to oceanconservancy.org, animals that ingest plastic can have life-threatening problems that eventually lead to death. It’s important to make people aware of these issues to hopefully change bad habits and help limit the amount of plastic going in the ocean. Let's look at the problem. Then you can inspire your students to use creative entrepreneurial thinking to solve this problem. Here’s what’s going on with the plastic problem.

A Whale's Tale tells the story of a whale that gets caught in a fishing net, but uses it to his advantage to save his other marine friends. ​This alarming, yet heartwarming video is great to show to students because it clearly identifies the problem through a pleasant story.

Now that you realize what’s happening, you can take a look into the reality of how animals navigate the world through plastic in this National Geographic article. It features images of real animals coming face to face with our waste. View the article here.

We know the facts and have seen the reality of how animals struggle to live with plastic. This National Geographic video discusses the solutions to these issues.

Learn more about the effects of plastic and waste on our resources page. Take your students out of the Shark Tank and into the Entrepreneurial Thinking Tank, as they rethink the way we currently do things and come up with creative solutions!