New educational guide to work about plastic waste at schools

Microplastic Watchers is an educational proposal that was born from the project of the same name on this platform. It started in 2016 as a result of concern about the growing accumulation of small-size plastic waste in the marine environment. The objective was to increase knowledge about the problem generated by this type of waste by making a diagnosis of what happens on the beaches, to help find solutions. From the beginning, it was designed so that educational centers could participate, being the students who were part of the scientific research. The good reception that the citizen science project has had in the educational field has led us to prepare this resource, which includes some inspirational proposals from the different experiences that the teachers of the participating centers have shared over the years. Year after year, the community has been growing and adding new centers, while others repeated the experience, until reaching more than 25 beaches on the Catalan and Balearic coasts. This growth led to the creation of a network of coordination entities that have acted as reference centers in the different stretches of the coast. In the last 3 years, the annual average number of participants has been 35 educational centers (between primary and secondary schools) and close to 2,500 students. This participation has resulted in students reseach projects and “Learning and Service” projects; and joint meetings and awareness actions have been held inside and outside the centers. We want to thank all participating centers. We hope that new transformative experiences will emerge from this resource!

Photo: GENGOB