Trash and Microplastics Dashboard
Data, Graphs, and Maps
Grades6, 7, 8Biology, Earth and Space Sciences
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Provided by Urban Rivers
What it is
- This interactive data dashboard from Urban Rivers allows users to explore collected trash and microplastics data from the Chicago River.
- Users can filter and analyze visualized datasets showing debris categories, plastic types, quantities, and trends over time to better understand water pollution and human impacts on freshwater ecosystems.
Teaching tips
Positives
- These graphs are easy to read and color-coded to help students keep track of the data.
- The resource is updated often, ensuring that students are getting the most current and relevant data.
Prerequisites
- Students should understand how to read graphs and charts.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Students can use data from this resource as evidence for a persuasive essay or poster about the need for less single-use plastic.
- Teachers can use these graphs to have students practice interpreting data.
- After looking at this data, students can conduct their own research and pick up trash in a local natural area or around the school. Students can then create their own graphs to demonstrate the types of trash collected.
- Students can discuss the impacts this pollution can have on the health of the river and the organisms that live in it.
- This resource would pair well with this lesson on plastic pollution.
From the scientist review
This dashboard displays data on trash collected by volunteers from the Chicago River, including raw data for download and examples of how the data can be analyzed and visualized. This allows the dashboard to be used in various ways. Users can focus on pollution and trash itself, or on making observations, collecting data, and analyzing and visualizing data, which are important science skills. The information presented is accurate and this resource is recommended for teaching.
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Hosted on urbanrivers.org
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