North Atlantic 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/north-atlantic-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. What is the geographic context?Located within the North Atlantic Gyre, a major oceanic circulation system
2. What is the date of initial documentation?1972
3. How did the garbage patch start?Ocean currents in the North Atlantic Gyre pull floating trash together, and waste that ends up in rivers brings it to the ocean.
4. Why is the garbage patch so big?The currents keep the trash in one spot, and plastic breaks into tiny pieces that stay in the water for a very long time.

Anthropogenic: Originating from human activity.
Marine Debris: Any persistent man-made material that ends up in the ocean.
North Atlantic Gyre: A large system of rotating ocean currents in the North Atlantic Ocean that concentrates floating debris.
Microplastics: Plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in size, formed from the breakdown of larger plastics.