In less than a century, humans have produced approximately 9 billion tons of plastic waste. As plastic spreads into water and land, we are only just beginning to understand the health risks to humans, animals and plants. Just check out how these animals must navigate the plastic pollution that surrounds them. Recycling has made many individuals more conscious about their use of plastics, but they system is hampered by inefficiencies that call for new and innovative solutions. Through the invention process, students will explore ways to reduce plastic waste and develop solutions to the Earth’s plastic problem. They will also design an invention to cut down on plastic waste in their school, home and community.

L. Clara Mabour teaches Biology, AICE (Advanced International Certificate of Education) Marine Science and AICE Global Perspectives at her alma mater, Northeast High School in Oakland Park, Florida. In 2017, she was awarded a Lemelson-MIT Excite Award to travel to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for invention education and professional development. Mabour advises a group of student inventors who received the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam grant in 2017. Her InvenTeam students created the Mosquito Disruptor, a device that presents mosquitoes from propagating in stagnant waters. In addition, she facilitates an after school STEM club and a new group of young inventors and future scientists who are conducting independent and team research projects that address local and global issues.

Access the original lesson by PBS NewsHour here.