Indian Ocean 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/indian-ocean-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. Who discovered the Indian Ocean garbage patch?2010
2. What is the location?Central Indian Ocean, within the Indian Ocean Gyre
3. What is the estimated particle concentration?Approximately 10,000 particles per square kilometer
4. Why do plastic bits end up in the Indian Ocean?They come from trash on land, rivers, and ships, then move with ocean currents into the gyre where they collect.
5. How many plastic particles are in the patch?About 10,000 tiny pieces can be found in each square kilometer of the patch.

Marine garbage patch: An accumulation of marine debris, predominantly plastics, within oceanic gyres, often dispersed and not visually solid.
Oceanic gyre: A large system of circulating ocean currents, driven by global wind patterns and the Earth's rotation, which can trap floating debris.
Pelagic plastics: Plastic debris found floating or suspended in the open ocean, away from coastlines.
Microplastics: Plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in size, resulting from the fragmentation of larger plastic items or manufactured for specific uses.