Step 1: Introduce the Problem

The issue of plastic pollution was first presented visually within a schoolwide slideshow detailing my National Geographic Arctic Svalbard expedition images. It was presented as an open-ended inquiry for student consideration.

Photo by Maya Santangelo

Ms. Warmouth traveled to the High Arctic near the North Pole. No humans live there but she found plastic garbage washing up on the shorelines of remote islands. One of the items in the picture looks a lot like the plastic sporks we use every day at school.

Where did it come from and how did it get there?