Leveraging Partnerships to Integrate Microplastics Curriculum in K-12 Education

Ocean-themed Lessons for Second Graders

As part of this partnership, USC JEP STEM undergraduate student educators—Keira Zoleta, Mia Moore Walker, and Laney Riley —developed creative ocean-themed lesson plans designed for second graders that bring marine science into local classrooms. Keira’s class at the Dr. Theodore Alexander Science Center School sorted ocean materials to understand recycling and pollution. Keira mentioned, “It’s important to teach students about the environment and what happens beyond the classroom. Using only a comb as baleen, paper dots as krill, foam beads and straws as microplastics, and a tray of water, I was able to demonstrate to students the detrimental impact of microplastics on our oceans and its animals. Students were able to distinguish between microplastics and paper “krill”, but they found it challenging to remove the microplastics from their mini oceans (water trays) using only a comb. One student told me, “it’s impossible to get the microplastics out of the water Ms. Keira!” and that’s exactly what I was hoping to show them! My 2nd grade students loved this engaging and interactive lesson. After the lesson, many of them told me that they would pick up more trash at the beach when they visited. It’s crucial to teach students at an early age about the importance of sustainability and how we can prevent pollution within our oceans.”

Mia’s students built ocean habitat terrariums, exploring ecosystems and biodiversity. She taught this activity to her 32nd Street School second-grade classes. She introduced the idea of different trophic levels to her second graders and also explained the basis of what pollution is and how it affects the day-to-day environments, the life cycles of many sea creatures, and the role humans play in it. She also introduced the topic of sustainability, which is a word a lot of her students were not familiar with.

Mia said that “sustainability is not something that is taught in the standardized education system, so it is something that a lot of people do not really interact with until college, if even then. I personally was not aware of what sustainability truly was until my freshman year of college, and I wish somebody had introduced the topic of environmental and marine sustainability to me when I was as young as second grade, just so I had that idea in my head that the environment mattered. We could have a classroom full of environmental scientists who will never know that they are meant to be environmental scientists if we do not teach them what environmentalism is.” 

Laney guided her students in creating layers of the ocean in a water bottle, introducing concepts of ocean depth and marine zones. For the ocean stratification lesson, she made lava lamps with the students. Laney exclaimed, “it was really cool seeing the connections my students were able to make between the ocean and their “mini ocean” lava lamps. One of my students at the end asked me if there were a bunch of alka-seltzer tablets in the ocean like there were in their lava lamps.” The alka-seltzer tablets acted as the energy or waves. She was able to explain to the students how that wasn’t exactly how it worked in the ocean, but loved how they were thinking. “I can honestly say that it was one of my favorite moments as a TA,” said Laney.

These lessons help elementary students connect sustainability concepts with hands-on, inquiry-based STEM activities.

Educator Professional Development on Catalina Island

The next wave of this partnership was a one-day professional development workshop for Los Angeles high school teachers hosted at USC’s Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island on January 24th.

This immersive workshop, jointly led by USC Sea Grant and USC JEP, focused on marine debris, microplastics, and a chemistry demonstration by USC’s Dr. Travis Williams. Using Algalita’s research-based microplastic curriculum and teacher kits, participating teachers gained access to applied science lessons such as “Plastics in the Ocean,” “Microfibers,” and “Synthetic Sand.” Each unit translated cutting-edge environmental science into classroom-ready activities aligned with California science standards.

A core element of this initiative was the integration of Algalita’s NGSS-aligned, 5E-structured lesson plans that translate current environmental research into classroom-ready experiences. Anika Ballent and Emily Dekin from Algalita were instrumental in designing and refining these lesson plans, ensuring they guide students through hands-on exploration, concept development, and reflection aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards.

Anika co-led the Catalina Island teacher workshop sessions, supporting educators as they explored how to bring these microplastic and sustainability lessons alive in their classrooms. Her expertise in science communication and curriculum design offered teachers valuable insights into connecting local marine science with global environmental literacy.

Teachers also engaged with USC’s Dr. Travis Williams and his research team through a live demonstration, where teachers observed two chemicals combine to create an entirely new substance—nylon. The demonstration conveyed how easily plastic products can be created despite their inherent resistance to degradation in the natural environment.

Upon completion of the workshop, participants received Algalita teacher kits, new STEM curriculum resources, and CEU credit through the USC Rossier School of Education. Emily Ochoa, Biology Teacher at Eastside High School mentioned this workshop was “one of the best professional development [workshops] that I’ve been to!” In addition, Irving Middle School Biology Teacher, Ariel Climer, stated that “this workshop not only provided me a better understanding of how to make ocean plastic pollution real and tangible but also gave me editable and useful activities. I could use these activities to drop in a small lesson or a large unit.”

Expanding Reach Through WonderKids

Beyond in-person teaching, the JEP team also brought the topic of microplastics into its WonderKids after-school virtual STEM program, reaching even more young learners (K-5 students) online. This unit featured USC Sea Grant Marine Debris Extension Specialist Sydney Rilum as a guest speaker, who shared insights on plastic pollution and the global microplastic challenge.

During the pre-lesson, Wonderkids instructor Caleb Clary noted that, “the kids seemed shocked by the quantity of plastic in the ocean. Through doing the activity, they realized that it isn’t possible to clean the ocean of plastic as fast as plastic is being added to it, and some concluded that the only solution is to limit the amount of plastic going into the ocean in the first place.”

Before leading students through a microplastics activity, Sydney’s talk covered what plastic pollution and microplastics are, how they end up in the ocean, how they impact the environment, and what we can do to address the issue. She then guided the class through an activity in which students pretended to be ocean animals searching for food among plastic in the ocean. Wonderkids instructor Anamika Nanda stated that, “Students added after the activity that it is incredibly difficult to remove plastic from the water, especially once it has sunk. Many students were worried about how the plastic was harming sea creatures, and many exclaimed they wanted to help improve the environment.”

Together, these efforts demonstrate the power of collaboration in bringing real-world environmental challenges into K-12 education. By engaging students early, equipping educators with meaningful resources, and expanding access through programs like Wonderkids, this initiative is helping cultivate a generation that is not only aware of plastic pollution but also motivated to take action. Through hands-on learning and meaningful partnerships, USC Sea Grant, Algalita, and USC JEP are fostering the next generation of informed and empowered ocean stewards.