The issue of microplastics is a multifaceted one that requires attention on a multitude of levels, as it
impacts our lives in all aspects as well. In a macroscopic context, while we have developed this light induced
enzyme technology in the hopes of alleviating the large amounts of existing plastic waste, this addresses a
minuscule aspect of the problem and in no way can be considered a solution. We believe that in order for us to
make a solid, lasting impact with this project, we must address the very root of the issue: our usage of
plastic itself. Based on our personal experiences and observations, we became critically alert of the lack of
awareness regarding this issue that led to inefficient, excessive use of plastic. Thus, we see the education
of the people around us, especially children, as a fundamental aspect of our project. This experience of
reaching out directly to our youth not only provided us with a meaningful opportunity for connection with
those in our community, it also enabled us to increase our insight about the current usage and understanding
of plastic.
We consider early childhood education to be equally important as a higher level of education. Therefore, on
September 10th, our team visited “SOT/School of Tomorrow” English kindergarten to raise awareness about
plastic and educate kindergartners about the dangers of plastic. In addition to statistics and a brief
introduction to plastic, we incorporated several engaging activities throughout the class. In order for
younger kids to fully absorb the information and develop an interest in this social issue, we prepared
educational games and pictures related to the plastic epidemic. Furthermore, we provided kindergartners with
opportunities to reflect back to the class, drawing and sharing with their peers about what they know and
learned about plastic.
For example, in one of the games, we first divided the kindergartners into small groups of 4 to 5. Next, we
gave them multiple objects - some plastic, some not - that they are familiar with and asked them to
distinguish plastic items from nonplastic ones. We hoped that this activity would help them better understand
plastic and learn how to differentiate certain objects from others; we were aiming to teach them the
importance of choosing and using non-plastic items over plastic ones. For a different activity, we brought two
different kinds of paper: regular paper and paper with an alginate(eco-friendly polysaccharide found in brown
seaweed) coating on one side. We explained that this could be, in the future, a replacement for plastic cups.
In order to help them understand, we demonstrated how compared to regular paper, where water leaks through it
almost immediately, the alginate covered paper was able to hold water over 3 minutes without leaking. For the
rest of the class, we discussed the severity of this social issue with pictures and stories, relating to kids’
experiences. In the end, kids drew pictures of what they had learned in class: plastic items, potential harm,
and other eco-friendly replacements for plastic.
The kindergartners obviously had very little knowledge about basic biological concepts, such as bacteria or
DNA. so it was difficult to explain our subject in depth. Therefore, we attempted a different approach to
them, explaining our project briefly using very simple terms during the talk about plastic solution and thus
implementing an eye-to-eye educational method for the kindergarteners.
Overall, the kids were very engaged and entertained. Many enthusiastically raised their hands to participate
and shared their stories with the class. Our fun-oriented activities allowed them to obtain new information
about items they see commonly, a dangerous side of plastic that they were not too sure about previously. For
the game that required them to distinguish plastic and non-plastic items, most kids needed our help and
assistance to separate them into two groups. They often looked perplexed after realizing the misconceptions
they had toward some objects. During demonstrations with “special paper,” (paper with alginate) they were
amazed by the fact that the water was not going through the paper cup they were holding in their hands.
However, the section they participated in the most was when we were explaining the harm plastic use might
bring to the environment. Although we found out that they were generally well informed about plastic and its
negative impact on society, they often looked surprised after listening to future consequences and images of
devastating effects. For example, images of trash mountains and pictures of animals consuming plastic were
very effective in influencing kids’ mindset and motivation toward this social issue.
Through this educational campaign, we were able to understand how lacking the younger generation of this
country lacked general understanding about the plastic epidemic, which is alarming considering how these
children grow to lead the future of the country and thus its environment. Thus, the education worked as an
opening gate of knowledge for the environmental epidemic for the children, which once again helped us
understand the importance of social practices (which is equally important as the biological or engineering
aspect of the solution) in helping solve the plastic epidemic.
People’s most profound and respectful morals are created during their rudimentary years. We, as students
reflecting on our elementary years, understand that hands-on activities created the most exciting and most
memorable experiences. Our team members still remember when we, in third grade, made grass-heads out on the
field and learned about the values of life and recycling. The elementary school, however, was starting to
change its active classes to be more knowledge-based, making the students grow tired of the regimented school
days. Thus, catalyzed by the memories of how impactful these activities were at creating a lasting impression
on the importance of recycling, we approached the elementary principal to restart the tradition of hands-on
learning.
After we were permitted to proceed with our lecture plan, we met 4th and 5th graders at our school’s green
field where we had already set up a booth with all the other ingredients to make a grass-head. We lined the
students up in three lines, one person in charge of each line, and helped them create their grass-head. We
believe that teaching these young students about microplastic or our biological solution would be just too
hard for them to understand. As such, we only described our solution in short, easy terms that summarized what
our project was about and what is was for. For the most part, we focused our lecture on explaining the
different ways that a plastic cup can be recycled. In this case, the plastic container was used as a vase for
the grass-head to grow in. Everyone was so enthusiastic about this activity, with some even trying to decorate
their grass-head to be the unique one in the class. Thus, we spent a good portion of our lecture time just
letting them enjoy their time out in the sun.
However, as we wanted to ingrain the importance of recycling, a lecture was crucial to capture their
attention. We sat the lively children down on the grass-field, with each of them hugging their grass-heads,
and asked them questions like “what are other ways to recycle those plastic cups?” or “Do you know what
happens to plastic after you throw them away?” to get them to interact more with our topic. Fortunately, the
children were already captured by our lecture, mostly due to the fun nature of the first part, and were
shouting out answers. Many did not know what happened to plastic after they reached landfills but were full of
creative ideas to reuse plastic goods. We had expected this ignorance about the aftermath of plastic and had
created a presentation to teach them about it.
We utilized many pictures to illustrate the dirtiness and longevity of these landfills. Our efforts were
answered with shocked faces and yelps by the children. Lastly, we asked them to reflect on the amount of trash
they produce every day and how to decrease it. With answers ranging from “eat less food,” to “reduce the
number of disposable products,” we were sure that most students were well-affected by our lecture. Most of the
children’s reflections were deep and personal, and that was what we were trying to get at. We don’t expect
students to suddenly become environmental activists and abandon their wasteful lifestyle. At the same time, we
wanted the students to gain some empathy about the plastic crisis and feel related to this epidemic. By their
understanding of the grass-head as a friend, the students did express a more personal connection to recycling
and protecting the Earth.
Elementary students are the future of our world; they would be suffering from worse consequences than what we
are in the present. To prevent a frightful future from occurring, students have to know from a young age about
the importance of recycling and saving. Our activity hopefully would have affected the children permanently,
just like how our grass-head experience made me into an environment-aware being.
Middle School students eventually enter high school, in which many of them learn about biology in further
depth. Our team wished to emphasize the capability of biological solutions in real-life issues before students
entered high school; as a result, in the future, they could take such courses with more interest and faith in
the potential of biology and the application of products derived from the field.
From September 16th to the 20th, we presented the plastic issue and our project to SIS’s entire middle school
community. More specifically, we presented on 9/16 to the 6th graders, 9/17 to the 7th graders, 9/20 to the
8th graders. During our presentations, we educated the middle schoolers on the worldwide issue of plastic
pollution, microplastic (a primary target), its detrimental effects, ways for them to reduce plastic
immediately, and most importantly, our plastic-degrading bacteria and the process we went through to create
it.
The middle schoolers already knew about plastic pollution to a certain extent, but it was clear that many
students had become indifferent to the plastic pollution and only had a vague understanding of the negative
consequences of plastic pollution. As such, we made heavy use of striking statistics (such as how Koreans use
the most plastic per capita in the world) and comparisons to catch their attention.
Compared to the ordinary plastic, microplastic proved to be a less familiar term to the middle schoolers, and
many took great interest in its presence. We talked about how microplastics are formed, how they reach us, and
the fearsome issues they are capable of causing within biological organisms.
We then gave the young audience brief advice on how to reduce plastic usage, talking about the 3 R’s
(reduce-reuse-recycle) and examples of how they could achieve such goals.
The middle schoolers possessed crude yet commendable knowledge about the biological components of our project
(we checked this by asking them basic terms such as DNA, enzymes, etc.). Thanks to this, we were able to
expand upon the description of our project to the fullest extent. We talked in-depth about the
abilities/purpose of our plastic bacteria, and how the bacteria was created, such as how we used plasmids to
incorporate the PETase-coding genes, or how implemented a light-induced promoter. We made sure to explain it
in more accessible terms.
In addition to our presentation, we also included a Kahoot quiz reviewing the material within our presentation
in order to make sure the students were listening, but also to make the presentation entertaining. We made
sure to include prizes, as we knew that it became increasingly difficult to interest students of older age
without the usage of material compensation.
In general, the middle schoolers showed great interest in our project. In one case, there was a student that
would ask complex questions about our project, as he seemed to be very knowledgeable in biology. Such an
instance was very inspiring as it showed that the middle schoolers wanted to know how our project worked,
which demonstrated curiosity in the field of biological solutions. We hope that our project was able to
persuade many middle schoolers of the potentials of biological answers to world issues, and possibly spark a
greater interest in the subject during their future high school years, motivating them to take further courses
relating to biology.
Education
Kindergarten
Elementary
Middle School