Lesson video

Hello everybody, my name's Mrs. Baker.

I'm here to take you through this unit on citizenship, all about global problems. So I'm really looking forward to making some new discoveries with you, hopefully engaging you on global problems and the effects of global issues.

I'm sure lots of you are already really keen on knowing what goes on in the world, and that's why you're studying citizenship.

I am hoping that we could stay together for six lessons, it will be great if you can do all six.

And there's a really good opportunity for you to get involved and organise your own projects at the end, so it's a really quite exciting unit to be part of.

Obviously like any other lesson, it would be really handy if you could find somewhere quite quiet to work.

Hopefully you can move everything else out of the way and find yourself a nice little space.

If you are working on a computer you might want to close everything down so you don't get sidetracked into taking part in a little messaging chat or anything like that.

The same if you're using your phone, do try and turn off your notifications and anything that might distract you, just so you and I can have a really great lesson over the next few minutes or so, okay? So when you're ready, I am going to take you to the next slide and I'm going to let you know what you need for today's lesson.

So let's get there.

So for today's lesson we don't need anything particularly special, just something to write with and something to write on.

And one thing I always ask you to bring with you when you're going to do one of my lessons is your brain, and make sure you're ready to think, okay.

So there's lots of questions in citizenship, there's not always a right or wrong answer.

It's quite often about what you think.

So make sure your brain is there ready to tell me what you think.

And at the end of the lesson there'll be an opportunity for me to tell you how you can share your work.

So hold on to the end, because I'll be really interested to see what you think of the lesson and what ideas you've come up with.

So please stay with me so you can find out how you can get in touch at the end of the lesson.

Okay, if you haven't got anything to write with or anything to write on, please just pause the lesson here so you can go and get something.

And those of us that are ready to start, let's have a look at what we'll be learning today.

So, over this unit of six lessons, we're going to look at a key question for each of them, and today's question's all about plastic and how plastic is affecting the environment.

I would probably take a guess that most of you, if you're writing in a pen, have a plastic pen in your hand at the moment, because plastic is a really, really common material.

It's very cheap and it's easy for people to manufacture things out of, so, lots of positives about plastic.

But as we go through the lesson, we're going to have a look at the impact it's having on the environment and see whether or not there's a few negatives as well.

Before we start digging deeper into the effects on plastic we're going to spend a couple of minutes thinking about what problems that are facing our environment full stop today.

Then look at plastic and trying to assess whether or not it is a threat to our environment.

We're going to look at what actions have been taken to help with the issue of plastic.

So that will be from governments, businesses, and individuals.

And then what further action can be taken to support this issue, if indeed we think further action is needed.

And as I said, often it's about what your belief is, rather than what I may believe, or somebody else that's doing this lesson with you may believe.

So be ready to give me your advice, what you think we should be doing, and your views.

So, let's get straight down to using those brains then, everybody.

What problems face the global environment today? So when I'm talking about global, a hint is that it's a big globe, okay, it's a big world.

So you could think about what's going on in your local environment, of course, but try and think as well about something that's going on outside of your neighbourhood.

Think about things, perhaps, that you've been made aware of in the news, things that you've read about, what else is happening? Now, you can write me a list or you can do a little thought shower, mind map, bubble diagram, whatever you'd like to do.

Just pop some of the ideas down that you have about what the problems are with the environment today.

I'm going to give you say 30 seconds or so.

So you can complete that.

And then we'll talk about what your ideas are.

No right or wrong answers to this one guys, so please just come up with any ideas that you've got.

Okay, so, should be finishing up quite soon now.

If you wanted to add some illustrations to your diagram you can do.

About another 10 seconds to go.

Okay, so let's have a look.

You have a look at your list, and I'm going to show you some of the ideas I had.

And we'll see what we came up with together.

Here we go.

So, one example that you may have is this one.

Now, you would be forgiven, as we're recording this, and you may well be doing this, for thinking this is showing you the idea of a global pandemic, because the scientist there is wearing a mask, a mask is something that we've become quite used to wearing because of the global pandemic here in 2020.

But in actual fact that's not what we're talking about in this picture at all.

Obviously the world is represented behind him, so definitely something to do with a global issue.

And at the bottom, those chimneys, representing chimneys of a factory.

And out of them you can see smoke.

So this is actually showing us the effect of air pollution.

Now, since about 1750, when Britain went through the industrial revolution we have become a country, like many, many other industrialised countries, that relies heavily on manufactured goods and things that are made.

So we've moved into towns and cities, and the air quality started to go down a little bit, because when you have factories that make things, one of the byproducts is going to be waste.

And some of that waste is going to pollute the air, and that idea of air pollution from smoke and exhaust fumes when we start to use cars.

And as towns and cities got bigger and bigger, that air pollution got stronger and stronger.

And now we're looking at multinational companies with huge amounts of manufacturing, and a large amount of pollution.

We also think about the amount of fuel that we consume now as a very wealthy and very large country, that's constant using fuel, and that also increases air pollution.

So what we're looking at here is the fact that the quality of our air is not as good as it used to be and we now have this air pollution, which can cause problems for people and damage our environment.

So, air pollution might be something that you have in your list.

Here are some others.

And some of these we will be coming back to in later lessons.

So, for example, I've put down global warming, and global warming is actually going to be the topic of lesson number two.

So global warming, this idea that we're suffering from climate change and the temperature of the globe is actually increasing.

And it has an effect on a range of things in the environment.

Then we've got water pollution.

Our rivers and our seas and our lakes can become polluted.

There's been oil spills at seas, there's been chemical lakes into drinking water.

So water pollution is a big problem, on occasions, for our environment.

Still sticking on the theme of water here then, we've got drought or flooding.

So drought, when there hasn't been enough rain, hasn't been enough water to look after the crops or allow the animals to graze from the ground, we end up with a drought and that affects food supplies.

Or flooding, when we've had too much rain, and rivers have burst their banks.

And we often ends up with people being flooded from their homes, with crops being destroyed due to the water, sometimes with animal livestock being killed.

And that can have an effect, again, on the amount of food areas have.

So that would link us to the middle row and the second one down, to famine.

So, famine is often a global problem connected to the environment, because something just happens to the food chain and people do not have enough food, or their food reserves aren't there because of damage through flooding or drought.

And we've already talked about air pollution, on that middle row.

And now we can have a look at animal extinction, and that's something that a lot of people feel very strongly about.

Many of you may have seen adverts from charities talking about the extinction of certain animals.

Rhinos and elephants are often talked about, where they've been hunted by poachers for their ivory.

But in terms of environmental problems, often people will talk to you about orangutans or tigers, where their environment's being destroyed for use to grow certain crops, or their forests are being destroyed for the wood.

And when they've lost their habitat they've got nowhere to live, and that can lead to extinction of these animals and many more.

So, I've actually put deforestation down at the bottom there as well, so those two link together where areas of forest cleared for other reasons.

Sometimes because people need to live there, sometimes because companies are going to grow something different there, but these areas of very old forests are taken away.

Then we've got the melting polar ice caps, which could be quite important, because there's great big areas of ice sheets, so Greenland for example, is one area.

And as that melts it causes sea levels to rise and that can increase flooding.

So we can see that there's quite a connection between a number of these problems. And finally, some of you may remember the images from early 2020 of the devastating forest fires that were in Australia.

And forest fires becoming more and more frequent, and they obviously damage habitat, they kill animals and people, and also can destroy people's homes as well.

So, a number of serious issues that are global problems for the environment there that I've identified for you.

You may have some of the same as me, or you may have completely different ones, but as long as we've all got the idea that there are some serious problems in the world today that we need to think about how they affect us and how they affect other people.

So, I'd like you to have a look at this picture very quickly for me.

It looks like a really nice beach.

I live quite near the seaside, I can see the sea from my house, actually, but I can certainly tell you that I would not want to go and sit on that beach.

And I'm guessing that you probably wouldn't either.

So what can you see there in that picture? What's the most obvious thing that you can see? Are you shouting it at me? Have you written it down? Yeah, you're right.

It's definitely plastic bottles, okay.

Most of those look to be drinking bottles, don't they? And those dark bottles look to me like they could be a bottle of fizzy pop a certain brand of cola, or Coke, maybe.

And we've also got just bottle caps.

I think I can see a baby's bottle down there in the corner as well.

And all of this plastic has been washed up onto that beach from the sea, from the tides.

Now it gets there, frequently, because it's blown from other places, or it ends up in the streams and rivers, and blows into the sea.

And often it blows off other landfills, ends up in the sea, or it blows off ships that are carrying it from one place to the other, ends up in the sea and finds its way to beautiful beaches like that.

And then nobody can enjoy the beach because it's so full of plastic.

So, when we talk about, is plastic an issue for our environment? What we're really talking about is partly this idea of plastic litter and plastic pollution.

So, in a moment I'm going to ask you to pause your video and complete this task.

So, it's nice and straightforward.

Some of you may be doing this lesson in the morning and not have as much to write.

Some of you may be doing this lesson in the afternoon and have a lot to write, I guess.

So I'd like you to write a list of all the things that are plastic that you have used today.

Okay? So that could be maybe things that you've had packaged when you've eaten them.

So have you eaten a packet of crisps that are in a plastic wrapper? Have you used your hairbrush today, or your comb? Was that made out of plastic? I suspect most of us have got plastic toothbrushes, and we've hopefully used those.

And maybe as well, what I would call luxury items. So definitely mobile phones.

Some of us might use some makeup that's packaged in plastic, all of these kinds of things.

So I'd like you to pause the video now.

And I would like you to write a list of as many items as you can that you've used today that are made from plastic.

Okay.

So it's great to have you back with me.

And I thought I'd share my list with you, and you can see how many similar things that you've got to me.

I'm writing this quite.

Reading this to you, and going through this lesson with you, quite early in the morning.

So, so far I've got toothbrush, hairbrush, hairdryer, mobile phone.

I fed my cat, Dennis, there you can see him being very naughty, and notice that he's in a plastic sack, and there's actually some plastic wrapping in the sack.

And that's that's a photograph from Christmas, and all of that plastic wrapping couldn't be recycled.

That was a separate bag that couldn't go into our paper recycling, 'cause there was too much plastic on it.

Also my packaging for the fruits that I put in my porridge was in plastic.

The packaging of my porridge was in plastic.

And my milk that I put in my porridge was in a plastic container too.

So just within an hour or so my plastic use was quite high.

And I also realise that I've miss something of my list that I've forgotten to tell you about my plastic pen, you can maybe see that, there.

But I have done one thing, and you might want to remember this for later in the lesson, I used to use a lot of Biros, and throwaway pens.

And then I started to use some disposable fountain pens, 'cause I liked writing in ink.

And I treated myself the other day to one of the pens that is not disposable.

So now I refill it with ink rather than throwing my pen away.

So, in my own little way, I've tried to reduce the amount of plastic I'm using.

So hopefully your list looks a bit like mine, or maybe you've got other things on there.

But you should get the idea now that plastic is all around us and we all use plastic so much.

Okay, so why then does the use of plastic really bother us? What is the problem with that? Well, plastic is cheap, it's easy to make things from, but we do only use plastic, sometimes, once or twice.

We often call this single-use plastic.

Why does that matter then, and what harm can that do? I'm going to show you this video, and after I have, be ready to answer some questions at the end.

So that means you might want to make a note of a couple of things as you go through the video, or you might just want to sit back and see what you can remember.

So I'll pick up again with you with some questions at the end of the video.

Earth has a big, big problem on its hands right now, that problem is plastic and our planet is crying out for help because of it.

The problems that plastic is causing in our oceans were in the news a lot at the end of 2017, and the issue is still a huge talking point.

Let's take a look at what's going on, and how you can help make a difference to the plastic problem.

Right now, plastic is all around us.

Many of you will have used plastic items today.

If you've used a phone, pen, or toothbrush, chances are they were made of some sort of plastic.

It is, of course, a very useful material, but the single use plastic that is popping up everywhere is causing serious issues for Earth.

For starters, it is getting into our oceans and is harming many sea creatures.

Plastic is also getting into our food and drinking water, which isn't good for us either.

It is getting there by being blown from beaches or landfill sites, or by litter being blown into rivers and then flowing into our oceans.

All-in-all, experts reckon that 8 million tonnes of plastic are dumped into our oceans every year.

Sadly, experts also believe that 60% of dolphins and 90% of seabirds have eaten plastic because of this.

But, as we mentioned earlier, in recent months plastic has become a big talking topic in many countries, including the UK.

Lots of people believe that the residents of planet Earth are beginning to wake up and realise what they're doing to their home.

In fact, as we were making this video the EU made a promise to make all plastic packaging recyclable by the year 2030.

So, what are we doing in the UK to solve the plastic problem? Big shops now have to charge you 5p for plastic bags, the government has banned plastic microbeads, used in bathroom products like face scrubs and toothpastes.

People are being encouraged to reuse plastic disposable coffee cups, with some companies even offering rewards for their greener customers.

Many big shops and supermarkets are declaring war on plastic.

Iceland has pledged to be plastic-free by the year 2023.

And prime minister Theresa May has vowed to eliminate Britain's plastic waste completely by the year 2042.

But the plastic problem is something that affects us all, And you can do your bit for the planet right now at home.

Here are a few green tips to get you going if you don't already.

Carry a reusable bag and water bottle when you're out and about.

Get involved in a beach cleanup, or pick up litter whenever you see it.

Reuse plastic straws, bottles, cutlery and cups in restaurants and coffee shops.

Okay.

So are you ready to challenge yourself with some questions? I can hear you thinking, "Yes I am." So, after three, I'm going to show you a question and you are going to tell me which of the options is correct.

One, two, three.

How many million tonnes of plastic is in our oceans? Is it option one, 3 million, option two, 20 million, option three, 10 million, or option four, 8 million? So, how many tonnes is there of plastic in our oceans? I'm going to give you until zero from five, four, three, two, one.

And which one was it? Yeah, well done, I'm sure you got that one.

It was 8 million tonnes.

That's an awful lot of plastic to find in our oceans, isn't it? That's quite a concern.

Okay.

So you've got the hang of this now.

You ready for the next question? Good.

So, what percentage of dolphins have eaten plastic? My goodness, that's awful to think isn't it, that our sea creatures eat our waste plastic 'cause we just throw it away.

So, is it option number one, 25%, option two, 60%, option three, 40%, or option four, 80%? And I'm going to give you till zero from five, four, three, two, one.

You got it, 60%.

Well done everybody.

And let's go with another one.

By what year did the EU promise to make all plastic packaging recyclable? So that would be a big step forward, wouldn't it? Being able to make sure that we could recycle our packaging, rather than just having to throw it away in landfill and it sitting there decaying for hundreds of years, or perhaps never decaying at all.

So is it option one, 2020, option two, 2025, option three, 2030, or option four, 2035? And I'll give you till zero from five, four, three, two, one.

And yeah, you got it, 2030.

So, still quite a time to go, but it will take that long for manufacturers to be able to come up with the ways they can make this recyclable and change their packaging.

So it's not something you can just decide that would happen overnight.

Okay, so what effect is plastic having on our oceans then? We've got an idea from the dolphins and the amount of tonnes being dumped in the ocean, but what else? So let's have a look at this story about somebody who went further than anybody else has ever been.

So, "The Mariana Trench is deepest natural trench in the world.

It is found in the Pacific Ocean, about 1,400 miles west of the Philippines.

Its sea floor is deeper than Mount Everest is tall.

Dive down and the pressure is the equivalent of 500 jumbo jets piled on top of one person.

That did nothing to put off American explorer and millionaire Victor Vescovo, who descended 10,927 metres into the trench to complete the world's deepest ever solo submarine dive." Okay, so this American explorer, who was very wealthy, decided he was going to go as far down to the bottom of the ocean floor as he could possibly.

And it's a really deep trench.

He had to be very wealthy and a millionaire because the submarine that was built to do the dive cost about $48 million to build.

So let's see what he found when he got there.

"He spent four hours on the sea floor as part of an expedition to reach the bottom of all of the five of the world's oceans.

While he was there he collected what is thought to be the deepest ever rock samples, and discovered four possible new species of crustaceans.

'Unfortunately, the presence of man finds its way even to these extraordinarily remote places,' he told 'The Times.

' He'd spotted what he believes to be a plastic bag and several sweet wrappers." So, imagine you've gone all the way to the bottom of the sea floor.

You've got further down than getting to the top of Mount Everest.

You're the first person to ever do it.

But there you find a sweet wrapper and a carrier bag.

So the evidence of plastic pollution, the evidence of our litter, had found its way there before he had.

And that's just an example of how we are polluting our waters, or how plastic is polluting our waters, even though man had never been there before.

Okay, so if we found that this does seem to be a problem, especially for our sea life and our oceans, what can actually be done about it then? In 2018, as we know, the EU announced plans to make all packaging used in its member States recyclable by 2030.

So that was a big step by a group of countries and it's a form of law, so people have to follow it.

We also know, and I expect some of you have had to do this, that countries have introduced a five pence charge for carrier bags in shops, and some countries have even banned single-use carrier bags completely.

So you will see many people go to the shops with their own bags.

Sometimes the Bags for Life perhaps, that get replaced.

They're still made out of plastic, but they last longer.

Sometimes you see people taking bags that are made out of other materials and are not made out of plastic at all.

On the 1st of January 2019, Washington, DC, so that's in America, banned the use of plastic straws.

Other states and countries soon followed, and the UK did the same in April 2020.

So from this year, 2020, April, you were no longer allowed to sell plastic straws, all straws had to be made out of paper.

In 2015 the Microbead-Free Waters Act banned microbeads in cosmetics in the USA.

And if you look at the picture at the bottom of the slide you can see an example of what a microbead is.

It's a teeny, teeny, tiny little bit of plastic, and you used to get it in things like facial scrubs to help take makeup off and clean your face.

It was also used in toothpaste to help polish the colour of people's teeth to make them whiter.

And the United States of America banned those in cosmetics like scrubs, and toothpastes, and body scrubs in 2015, but in 2018, on the 19th of June, the United Kingdom went one stage further, and they said that no products with microbeads should be sold.

So some household cleaning products also had microbeads in, and the UK said, "Nope, you can't sell them over here.

Anything with microbeads cannot be sold at all." And the problem with microbeads was that these tiny, tiny little bits of plastic were being washed down our sinks, so when we washed our faces with the scrubs that had the microbeads in, or after we rinsed our mouth out from using a toothpaste with microbeads in, those tiny, tiny pieces of plastic would go all the way down our plughole, into our waste water supply.

And eventually they would end up in our seas, and fish would end up swallowing that plastic.

And sometimes those fish would end up on our dinner plates.

And then, really, we would end up eating the plastic that had been used.

And obviously that is not healthy for anyone.

So, really important that microbeads have been banned.

So, moving on to our next task then everybody, what action can we take to help with this problem then? So we've seen what governments have done, and countries across the globe, because we know it is a global problem.

We've seen this problem of plastic polluting beaches, of polluting waters, of animals eating the plastic, but what can we do further? Okay.

So I'd like you to write a list of top 10 tips and advice to give to people who are trying to reduce their use of plastic.

So, you might want to just write the tip and then explain what they could do.

You might want to draw a little diagram to go with it.

It's absolutely up to you how you carry out this task, okay.

It's your idea, so you might want to come up with the top 10 ways of saving plastic, or top 10 ways of recycling plastic, or reusing plastic, absolutely up to you.

Now, if you are ready to do this task then you may pause the video now and start.

If you're thinking, Oh I'm not quite so sure what I need to do, I could do with some more advice, than stay with me and I'll go through that with you.

Okay, so if you're still with me I'm just going to go through a little bit of support with you and talk about how you could approach the task in a little bit more detail.

So, you could break it down, really, and look at how you could advise people on what to do at home.

So for example, you could say, "Well, find out if your area recycles.

Find out what you can recycle." And provide them some advice, maybe, of where they could go in your local area for the local council, you could give them the website address or something like that on your homework.

Try not to use plastic wraps for your sandwiches.

So perhaps if you take packed lunch into school you could think about not wrapping it up in plastic wrap and finding an alternative.

You could advise people to use water bottles, or buy one of these fancy refillable bottles that people get.

And if you're ever looking to buy a gift for somebody, an adult, quite often those make quite nice gifts.

People like having those to carry around with them, and it helps save money as well, rather than buying a new bottle of water all the time.

What about when we're out and about, then? If we can do things indoors, we can also do things when we're out and about.

Well, you could certainly say no to having a straw in your drink, because some people have still got access to plastic straws, they're still using some up, although we can't buy them anymore.

So you could say no, so that people that do need to use them or want to use them can.

If you're out and someone offers you a plastic cup or a plastic glass, you could ask if there's an alternative and say, "I don't like using plastic, it's bad for the environment," and see if they offer you something else.

You could remember to take your own bottle of water when you're out and about, rather than buying one.

That would also save you a bit of money too.

And when you're out shopping you could look for products with less plastic packaging.

For example, around Easter this year some Easter eggs said "No plastic packaging," and they were all packed in cardboard rather than big plastic things holding the eggs.

And that was to raise awareness that there was less plastic in their packaging.

Also, when you look at fruit and vegetables in the supermarket, sometimes you can find exactly the same thing, some packaged up in maybe sixes or eights, all wrapped up in plastic, and others loose.

And maybe you could advise people not to go for the pre-packaged, but to go for the loose vegetables to save on plastic packaging.

So there's just some tips that you can use with regards to creating your top 10.

Perhaps that's given you some ideas of things you can include, and those you can use if you'd like to.

So everybody should be ready to pause the video now and complete that task.

So, great to have you back with me guys.

I hope you managed to come up with some great ideas there on your task.

But how many of you put this in? Did you know that chewing gum has plastic in it? So, maybe one of the things you could add to your list is telling people to stop chewing gum, because not only does it tend to be a litter problem, either with the wrappers or what people do with the chewing gum when it loses flavour, but it also has plastic in it.

So I'm wondering how many of you knew that, perhaps that your that's your fun fact for today's lesson that you can share with people, that chewing gum has plastic in it.

All right.

So let's have a review of where we've got to, 'cause I can't believe we're nearly at the end of today's lesson.

So, well done everybody.

I'm hoping that you've learned a lot.

So we looked at how plastic is affecting our environment, and what problems face our environment today.

We looked at all those problems, looking at a range of them and how they were connected.

Then we said, "Is plastic a threat to the environment?" Well, by now you should be able to form your own opinion.

And you might just want to write a sentence or two now deciding whether or not you think plastic is a threat to our environment.

And you should have some evidence to answer yes or no.

And it is your choice.

You don't have to say yes, you could say no and say why.

What actions have been taken to help with this issue? Well, we looked at that range of government action and on the videos it's talked about what some companies have done as well to support the issue surrounding plastic.

And you've just come up with some ideas of what further action could be taken with regards as top tips for dealing with plastic.

So you've done an awful lot in a very short amount of time.

But before we go, I'm just going to give you a little takeaway task for you to think about.

So, to follow up from today's lesson I would like you to discuss with people at home, or your friends, someone else that's done this lesson, what they do with their plastic waste.

Can you encourage them to cut down on their single use plastic? Do they know about their local area recycling? Even when they're out and about in town, or on a walk, do they look for a recycling bin, or do they just throw everything in one bin? Are you able to investigate where your plastic waste ends up? Do you know what your council does with it? How does our plastic waste in the UK affect people in other countries? You may find that really interesting doing a little bit of research on, because when you recycle you may think, well, that's my job done, but do you ever think about what happens to that recycled plastic and where it actually goes? Some of you may want to try and contact your council or speak to a local council worker here to get some answers.

And this is the kind of thing that I would love for you to share with me.

And at the end of the lesson I'm going to show you how you can share your work with me, okay.

So whatever you do I'd love you to make notes on it, ready to feed back.

Ask lots of questions and enjoy finding out more.

Okay, so as I was saying, what a wonderful way to end our lesson, listening to what Sir David Attenborough's telling you.

Okay, so that is @OakNational and #LearnWithOak and please ask your parent or carer to share that work.

So, that's actually the end of our lesson today everybody.

I've really enjoyed working with you and I hope you're really proud of yourselves because I think you've done brilliantly.

I'm looking forward to working with you over the next few weeks about these other problems. And who knew, chewing gum's got plastic in it? So, congratulations.

Well done.

Lesson one complete.

I hope you have a very good day, and I'll see you again soon.

Take care of yourselves.

Bye bye.