Diving Deeper Instructor Manual Microplastics Group ISEA (Given to teachers to prepare their students BEFORE the trip) MICROPLASTICS GROUP Research Questions for Diving Deeper Introduction: These are the research questions and method we will use for your Diving Deeper experience at Inland Seas. This procedure does not have room for modification, but we recommend coming with questions and thoughts about microplastics, their abundance in the ecosystem, how they get into the lake, how they affect the ecosystem, and what can be done about it. This is your research experience; make it meaningful for you! Background: Dr. Sheri Mason, now at Penn State Behrend, was the first person to look for microplastics in the Great Lakes, in 2012. What she found was shocking – microplastic concentrations are several times greater than concentrations found in ocean waters, particularly for very small plastic particles. Today, we know microplastics are present in the Great Lakes and we know a little bit about how abundant they are, but we don’t know is, How does microplastic abundance change over the course of a year, and how does microplastic abundance change in one place from year to year? At Inland Seas we are working with Dr. Mason to answer those questions by regularly trawling for microplastics in Suttons Bay. Samples collected on your Diving Deeper trip will be saved and sent to Dr. Mason for further processing and added into the larger dataset of samples taken for Lake Michigan. ISEA Method: We collect water samples with a manta trawl, which floats on the surface of the water and can be hauled by the boat while we sail. Attached to the trawl is a long, fine mesh net, which filters the water and traps particles that are present in the surface waters. The net is towed for 30 minutes in a straight line. When the trawl comes in, all the debris it collected is rinsed from the net into a wash basin. Next the sample is placed in fresh water (not lake water), and stirred. Your group will look through the sample, remove any particles that look like plastic and examined them under a microscope to classify the particles into types: fiber, pellet, foam, fragment, or film. The collected particles are preserved in labeled petri dishes. All of the remaining debris (including any plastic particles we did not find) is preserved in a jar and sent to Dr. Mason’s lab in Behrend, PA to be processed with a hydrogen peroxide wash, which dissolves organic material and reveals plastic bits. Those plastic bits are sorted by size and classified by type. Your choice: ➢ The manta trawl collects everything that is on the surface of the water. Your group could identify the other things that come in with the trawl, and count or otherwise quantify the material that is collected. ➢ Microplastics plastics float when they are less dense than water. Bring different plastic materials on board and test how their ability to float changes in salt or fresh water. ➢ What else can you do to learn more about microplastics or the water surface? Diving Deeper Instructor Manual Microplastics Group ISEA Ship plan This plan is approximate. Be flexible, as we know you are! Time Ship Microplastics Research Group version 4.0 8:00 Getting Arrive 30 min before school arrives to set-up: 12:45 ready Microplastics research bin: packet of handouts, nut driver, metal 30 min bucket, sample Microplastics teaching materials: plastics trash, microbead samples, nesting dolls Down below: petri dishes of microplastic types, white wash bin, pressurize sprayer, mason jar, marker, label tape. TV, microscope, camera Datasheets, clipboard, pencil 8:30 LEAD meets the group and brings them to the ship 8:40 At the 1. Meet your group, learn names, and write names on index cards. 1:25 dock 2. Ask students what they have studied about microplastics and if they know 25 min Ready what we will be doing today. If they don’t know, give an overview: and Deploying a surface trawl to collect small bits of plastic (and anything else) Waiting that might be there. Suggest recording types of other materials (leaves, insects, etc) on the water surface. 3. Give clipboard with datasheets to the students. 4. Students present their plan to the captain and crew. 5. Captain and Lead give feedback and ask clarifying questions. 6. Weather report and safety talk by the captain. 7. Board the ship when it is your turn. Microplastics group sits amidships. 9:05 1. Cast off Note: Keep an ear out for the captain’s warning for the horn 1:50 2. Motor Get started with project introductions right away. 25 min to 1. Orient to the project. Define microplastics and show previously collected mound samples. Show maps of microplastics collections in the Great Lakes. We are 3. Drop collecting data that will add dots to this map, and to learn how traps microplastics concentrations change from season to season and from year to year. 2. Show the data sheets and how to fill them out. Explain sampling protocol. Show students where to find depth (for all meters ADD 4 FEET), and latitude and longitude. 3. LEAD INSTRUCTOR will visit your group to give an orientation to the data sheets: • Fill out all portions. Write clearly. Have another group member review your work. • Collect start data when the trawl hits the water, and end data just before the trawl comes out of the water, b/c we change course and speed to extract trawl safely. 4. Teach how the Manta trawl works. Measure width of the trawl opening. 5. Discuss sources of microplastics: break down of larger items (secondary microplastics), and ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products (primary microplastics). 6. Explore densities of different plastics by floating plastic items in a bucket of water and with chart of different plastic types and uses and their densities rel. to water. 7. Go down below to microscope to examine microplastic samples we have Diving Deeper Instructor Manual Microplastics Group ISEA collected on previous trips. Teach different types: line/fiber, pellet, foam, fragment, film 8. Discuss effects of microplastics on the food web: They are so small that anything can eat them. Use nesting dolls to illustrate indirect consumption and bioaccumulation. Plastics are not digestible, plastics can contain toxins. 9. Share data on beach clean-ups, and highlight the predominance of plastic litter. 10. Solutions: End the flow of microplastics to the Great Lakes (discuss specific actions) 9:30 1. Motor 1. Weather data 2:15 to 2. Surface water temperature (use a bucket) 35 min sample 3. Secchi disk measurement station 4. Discuss secchi trends and ecosystem change 2. Heave to 10:05 Set sails Head sails Might change this, so MP does Main Peak, and WQ does the 2:50 headsails 15 min 1. Mate will give a sail talk prior to raising sails. Tidy station in prep for raising sails. 2. Once the Foresail is up, move the Manta Trawl to the lifejacket box, Starboard side. 10:20 Silence, facilitated by Lead Instructor 3:05 10:25 Launch 1. Launch the manta trawl (2 students + crew) 3:10 manta 2. Record launch data at the stern (1 student + instructor) 5 min trawl 3. Raise the dayshape (1 student + crew) 10:30 Sail w/ Stay on deck, at the stern to observe the trawl, steer, relax 3:15 trawl 1. Record boat speed every 5 min and monitor the trawl 30 min until we 2. Make labels for petri dish and sample jar complete 3. With crew: 30 min • If sailing conditions are mild, students can assist at the helm and tow possibly on lines • If conditions are more risky (i.e. very windy), students may act as lookouts. Lookouts watch the surrounding waters for other craft or debris and alert the captain of anything noticed. 4. Continue with any discussions or topics not completed before the trawl launch. 5. Have a discussion about environmental issues (if time/desired) See Closing Questions for a guide to this conversation. 11:00 Haul in 1. Recover the manta trawl (2 students + crew) 3:45 trawl 2. Record end data at the stern (1 student + instructor) 5 min 3. Lower the dayshape (1 student + crew) 11:05 Sail back 50 Minutes: Go down below to large table for examining particles under 3:50 to traps microscope. 10 min 1. Rinse all debris to bottom of cod end. Turn cod end inside out, rinse sample 11:15 Sailing from the cod end into wash basin. Add clean water to basin. 4:00 and 2. Record all of the different things in the sample: leaves, spider, pollen, etc. 10 min Collect 3. Use flashlight to see microplastics. Remove bits that look like plastics. traps Diving Deeper Instructor Manual Microplastics Group ISEA 11:25 Sailing Transfer to petri dish (labeled with sample number only). 4:10 4. Examine bits under microscope and classify by size and plastic type. 30 min 5. Record color, size, and type for each particle on datasheet. 6. Sieve everything from the wash basin. Use a small amount of water to transfer debris from sieve to jar. Label lid and jar with: sample number, start and end lat and long. 7. Calculate density of microplastics form this trawl. Compare to previous data. 8. IMPORTANT: Check all data sheets to be sure they are complete and legible 9. Prepare students for their presentation – have students decide what they want to teach and let them practice 10. Students: Tidy materials and area. Stow unneeded equipment, but keep petri dish of microplastics samples available for the peer teaching rotation.