Students attending Gozo College Middle School recently had an Outdoor Classroom Activity at Hondoq Bay.
These students want to raise awareness about the effects of litter on marine ecosystems. this activity and a litter survey are just the start of their work.
Throughout the year the students will carry out research on marine litter and come up with practical solutions on how to reduce /eliminate single use plastic.
This field-trip was organised by the Eco-Schools committee in collaboration with students from Turkey, Italy and Spain. Students in Turkey already had their beach activity on the 22nd of November, with the other schools following in the coming months.
During their visit at Hondoq Bay, the students measured various weather elements of which temperature, UV, humidity, air pressure, wind speed and direction.
They also observed and reported cloud cover using GLOBE* Observer App and recorded sea water conditions (sea temperature, pH and water clarity). Using a digital microscope they sampled sand for microplastics and carried out a litter survey. Their visit ended with a clean-up activity.
Before the beach activity an online Litter Survey was held among all students, teachers and parents at Gozo College Middle School and Beldibi Sitki Zarali Ortaokulu in Marmaris Turkey.
The data collected from the surveys and beach activity will be used in their investigation focused on Marine Litter as part of the Eco-Schools/eTwinning/LitterLess project Act of Blue with the aim to understand the causes of marine litter, its effects on marine ecosystems and to find ways to stop it. All of this will also be linked to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Readers are invited to take part in the Act of Blue online survey on understanding the causes of marine litter, its effects on marine ecosystems and ways to stop it. This will help the students collect more data.
Online survey – https://jotformeu.com/93003043958354 [1]
*The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program is an international science and education program that provides students and the public worldwide with the opportunity to participate in data collection and the scientific process, and contribute meaningfully to our understanding of the Earth system and global environment.