In 1992, a cargo ship left Hong Kong headed for the United States carrying a cargo of nearly 29,000 rubber toys, including a lot of rubber ducks. Sadly, on a stormy night, the cargo tipped and the toys found themselves dumped into the Pacific Ocean. While two -thirds of them floated south, another 10,000 of them got caught in the Subpolar Gyre.  The water current (red on the map) took the ducks in a circle around the ocean. - See more at:

Description:  Students will read about a shipping accident that spilled thousands of rubber ducks into the ocean and how they were tracked around beaches of the world.  They will chart the results and predict how ocean currents move.

Materials:  reading “Rubber Ducks Wash Up” (printed below), a blank unlined paper per student, student sheet, colored pencils or markers

Another Great Duck Story: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/how-does-a-floating-plastic-duckie-end-up-where-it-does/

Time Needed:   50 minutes

Procedures:

1.   Hook:  Ask students if they have ever found something interesting on a beach and to describe it.  Ask them where they think it came from. 

2.  Handout the reading selection and have the students read it.  They do not need to finish it to continue to the next part.

3.  Provide colored pencils and paper to students so they can create a title page for the article.  It should be illustrated with pictures from the reading.  It will be the cover sheet for the students work.

4.   Review how latitude and longitude are used to describe locations on Earth.

5.   Read the introduction on the student sheet and the procedures students will use to map coordinate points.

6.   Allow time for the students to work on their maps and predict the direction currents are flowing in the No. Pacific Ocean.

7.   Make an overhead of the current map showing the location of the ducks or have students look at a map of currents in a textbook.  If they incorrectly drew in the currents, have them correct their work.

8.  Allow time for the students to finish the analysis questions.

           To  see the full lesson, download from files (below)

               Companion story also available from files.

               Assignment form can be found here: Please copy these forms to your drive.