We are continuing to learn about responsibility this month in Swooper Citizens.  Today, we had a special visitor!  Kindergarten parent, Dr. Douglas McCauley, joined us to share about how we can be responsible for our environment.  Dr. McCauley is a marine biologist, so his focus is on protecting our oceans and ocean life.

Dr. McCauley shared that our oceans already have over 5 trillion pieces of plastic in them, and that plastic hangs around for 500 years.  Plastic has even been found in the Mariana Trench, which contains the deepest natural point in the world.  He explained that plastic hurts marine life in many ways, including being mistaken for food, as this plastic bag may be mistaken for a jelly by a predator.

After sharing about his job and gathering ideas about why we should be responsible for our oceans, Dr. McCauley told us the story of Flora, a young girl who moves to a new island.

The students picked up right away on why and how we should be responsible for our environment.

Dr. McCauley also left the students with some gifts to help us all be more sustainable.  Each student received a toy sea bass, a sticker, a reusable canvas bag, a reusable metal straw, reusable sandwich bags, a reusable beeswax food wrap, a guide to choosing seafood wisely, and a pencil that, when used up, has a top containing seeds and can be planted!