Plastic Pollution Teaching Resources

A set of 4 lessons produced by the Environment Agency to help teach about plastic pollution.

​The Plastics team of the Environment Agency have produced a set of resources for teachers and other professionals to teach primary school children about the plastic pollution problem and to help children realise that we all have a part to play in making plastic pollution a thing of the past.

​The resources can be downloaded below and are divided into different Key stages: Key Stage 1 Lower (Year 1, children aged 5-6), Key Stage 1 Upper (Year 2, children aged 6-7), Key Stage 2 Lower (Year 3/4, children aged 7-9), Key Stage 2 Upper (Year 5/6, children aged 9-11).

EA Teaching Resources: KS1 Lower

School resources pack for teaching Lower KS1 children (Year 1) about plastic pollution through an interactive workshop that should take 1-1.5 hours.

Learning objectives:

  1. To be able to describe some of the effects of plastic on animals and the environment.
  2. To give an example of how everyone can help to make plastic pollution a thing of the past.

KS1 Lower Teacher Pack

KS1 Lower Presentation

KS1 Lower Animal Cards (with print lines)

KS1 Lower Animal Cards

KS1 Lower Animal Worksheet

KS1 Lower Colouring Sheet

KS1 Lower Pairs

KS1 Lower Recycling Bins

KS1 Lower Recycling Items

KS1 Lower Word Bank

EA Teaching Resources: KS1 Upper

School resources pack for teaching Upper KS1 children (Year 2) about plastic pollution through an interactive workshop that should take 1-1.5 hours.

Learning objectives:

  1. Describe what a habitat is;
  2. Explain some of the problems that plastic can cause in the environment.

KS1 Upper Teacher Pack

KS1 Upper Animals for Habitats

KS1 Upper Poster

KS1 Upper Sea Habitats

KS1 Upper Word Bank

KS1 Upper Presentation

EA Teaching Resources: KS2 Lower

School resources pack for teaching Lower KS2 children (Year 3/4) about plastic pollution through an interactive workshop that should take 1-1.5 hours.

Learning objectives:

  1. To understand that plastic can enter the environment in a number of ways which can cause harm to a number of organisms.
  2. Be able to understand how their choices can reduce the amount of plastic entering environment.

KS2 Lower Teacher Pack

KS2 Lower Lunch Box Items

KS2 Lower Plastic Bottle Lifecycle

KS2 Lower Word Bank

KS2 Lower Presentation

EA Teaching Resources: KS2 Upper

School resources pack for teaching Upper KS2 children (Year 5/6) about plastic pollution through an interactive workshop that should take 1-1.5 hours.

Learning objectives:

  1. ​To understand how to conduct a scientific survey in the field
  2. To apply previous knowledge to solve a new problem

KS2 Upper Teacher Notes

KS2 Upper Quadrats

KS2 Upper Word Bank

KS2 Upper Worksheet for Quadrats

KS2 Upper Powerpoint