Great Pacific garbage patch

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/great-pacific-garbage-patch

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. How heavy is Great Pacific garbage patch?Approximately 80,000 metric tons, composed of an estimated 1.8 trillion plastic pieces
2. What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?It is a huge area in the ocean where lots of plastic trash gathers, not a solid island but a spread‑out cloud of tiny pieces.
3. How does plastic end up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?Ocean currents, especially the North Pacific Gyre, pull trash from rivers and land into the ocean and keep it trapped there.

North Pacific Gyre: A large system of rotating ocean currents in the North Pacific that collects and concentrates floating marine debris.
Photodegradation: The breakdown of materials, such as plastic, caused by exposure to sunlight.
Bioaccumulation: The gradual build-up of substances, such as toxins, in an organism over time.
Circular Economy: An economic system aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resources, contrasting with the linear 'take-make-dispose' model.