FirstNews Lead Story: Article Analysis
Special Report: Great Pacific Garbage Patch
(Issue 353: 22 - 28 March 2013)
Great Pacific
Garbage Patch
Plastiki sails
into Sydney
Harbour (see
Did You Know)
THE Great Pacific Garbage Patch is threatening marine
wildlife such as turtles and whales, and no-one is taking
responsibility for it!
The Great Pacific Garbage
Patch is an area of the Pacific
Ocean between Hawaii and
California containing a high
concentration of rubbish. It
has formed in the centre of the
North Pacific Subtropical Gyre.
A gyre is a current in the ocean that
moves in a circular way. The North Pacific
Subtropical Gyre picks up litter and as
it moves with the current, the debris is
collected in the middle, where it becomes
trapped and builds up.
Litter in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
can come from all over the world. In
addition to litter from passing ships, litter
from Japan takes about a year to end up
in the Garbage Patch and litter from the
USA and Canada can travel for six years
before it ends up there.
Effects on marine wildlife
You might wonder why this is such
a big deal, as humans don’t live in the
Pacific Ocean. The answer is that it can
have a disastrous effect on the wildlife
that lives there. Marine creatures can
consume or are trapped by the litter,
which can then kill them. The litter can
have a much longer effect on the food
web too.
Turtles can confuse plastic bags for
jellyfish and eat them. The turtle can
then die either as a result of choking on
the plastic bag or by starvation, as the
plastic bags build up in their stomachs so
they feel full. Turtles aren’t the only ones
affected though; birds can get caught
in the plastic rings that hold drinks cans
together. The ring can affect the bird’s
growth or, even worse,
strangle it.
When litter collects on the
surface, it blocks the sunlight to
the life in the ocean below. If the
plants cannot photosynthesise, life
suffers all the way up the food web.
Small fish and turtles that feed on algae
and phytoplankton will have less food
and will start to die out.
The disappearance of these animals from
the food web could be disastrous to our
marine mates higher up in the food web.
Species such as sharks and tuna may
even die out completely!
Did you know?
Scientists have collected nearly 2 million
bits of plastic from just one square mile
in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This is
due to plastic not being biodegradable.
Look at how long it takes for our everyday
items to break down:
Plastic bags: 450-1,000 years
Foam cups: 50 years
Aluminium cans: at least 80 years
Plastic bottles: 450 years
Glass bottles: 1 million years
How can we clean up our
oceans?
Because the Great Pacific Garbage
Patch is in inter-national waters, no one
country will pay to clean it up. Many
conservation organisations are trying
to do what they can, but no-one knows
exactly how much of our oceans are
contaminated by
litter. The North
Pacific Subtropical
Gyre is over 7,000,000
square miles, so combine the
size of the area with the fact that some
of the heavier litter will have sunk from
the surface and there’s no way to know
the exact size, location and content of the
Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Go to the
School of Fish website to watch a video
all about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch,
where Blowfish will take you through
more fascinating facts.
Did you know?
David de Rothschild made a catamaran
out of waste plastic bottles. The
catamaran, called Plastiki, sailed
from America to Australia in 2010,
demonstrating just how strong plastic
is, even once it is rubbish!
But you can help!
Even small steps like recycling and
never dropping litter anywhere are small
steps that, when taken by everyone, can
have a big impact.
There are also events designed to help,
such as the Big Beach Clean-up. School
of Fish, along with M&S and The Marine
Conservation Society, will be cleaning
113 beaches around the UK coastline this
April. Why not go to school-of-fish.co.uk
to find out how you can get involved in a
Big Beach Clean-up next month and help
turn the tide on litter?
Glossary
School of Fish - an interactive website set up by M&S in partnership with the Marine Conservation society. It gives information
about the sea/sea-life and how to protect it.
Blowfish - a marine biologist who answers questions from the public for “School of Fish.”
Photosynthesis - the process used by plants and other organisms to change the light energy captured from the sun into
energy for their own fuel.
Phytoplankton - tiny free-floating aquatic plants.
FirstNews Lead Story: Article Analysis
Special Report: Great Pacific Garbage Patch
(Issue 353: 22 - 28 March 2013)
Carefully read this week’s Lead Story article. Can you:
Find the facts?
Interpret the information?
Work out why the journalist wrote and presented the stories in the way that they did?
Part A: Find the facts
A1) What and where is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
A2) What is a gyre?
A3) What is the effect of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch on
turtles and birds?
A4) Why is it difficult to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage
Patch?
A5) What is the Big Beach Clean-up?
Part B: Interpret the information
B1) Why is it significant that litter in the Great Pacific Garbage
Patch can come from all over the world?
B2) Why might species such as sharks and tuna die out
completely because of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
B3) Why does the report include details about how long it
takes for our everyday items to break-down?
B4) Give reasons to explain why David de Rothschild made a
catamaran out of waste plastic bottles.
B5) M&S is a major British retailer, so why do you think it is working alongside The Marine
Conservation Society on School of Fish and the Big Beach Clean-up?
Part C: Analyse the writing and presentation
C1) What is the purpose of this Special Report? Find evidence to support your answer.
C2) Comment on the positioning of the School of Fish and Big Beach clean-up! logos.
C3) Look at the following language choices:
debris
consume
big deal
photosynthesis
phytoplankton
Which one is the odd-one-out and what effect does the use of such
language have?
C4 ) What techniques are used in the concluding sentence to encourage
the reader to help?
Learning through news
www.FirstNews.co.uk
FirstNews Lead Story: Article Analysis
Special Report: Great Pacific Garbage Patch
(Issue 353: 22 - 28 March 2013)
Carefully read this week’s Lead Story article. Can you:
Find the facts?
Interpret the information?
Work out why the journalist wrote and presented the stories in the way that they did?
Part A: Find the facts
A1) What and where is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
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A2) What is a gyre?
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A3) What is the effect of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch on turtles and birds?
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A4) Why is it difficult to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
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A5) What is the Big Beach Clean-up?
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Learning through news
www.FirstNews.co.uk
FirstNews Lead Story: Article Analysis
Special Report: Great Pacific Garbage Patch
(Issue 353: 22 - 28 March 2013)
Carefully read this week’s Special Report, then answer these questions:
Part B: Interpret the information
B1) Why is it significant that litter in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch can come from all over the world?
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B2) Why might species such as sharks and tuna die out completely because of the Great Pacific Garbage
Patch?
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Learning through news
www.FirstNews.co.uk
FirstNews Lead Story: Article Analysis
Special Report: Great Pacific Garbage Patch
(Issue 353: 22 - 28 March 2013)
Carefully read this week’s Special Report, then answer these questions:
Part B: Interpret the information
B3) Why does the report include details about how long it takes for our everyday items to break-down?
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B4) Give reasons to explain why David de Rothschild made a catamaran out of waste plastic bottles.
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B5) M&S is a major British retailer, so why do you think it is working alongside The Marine Conservation
Society on School of Fish and the Big Beach Clean-up?
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Learning through news
www.FirstNews.co.uk
FirstNews Lead Story: Article Analysis
Special Report: Great Pacific Garbage Patch
(Issue 353: 22 - 28 March 2013)
Carefully read this week’s Special Report, then answer these questions:
Part C: Analyse the writing and presentation
C1) What is the purpose of this Special Report? Find evidence to support your answer.
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C2) Comment on the positioning of the School of Fish and Big Beach clean-up! logos.
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Learning through news
www.FirstNews.co.uk
FirstNews Lead Story: Article Analysis
Special Report: Great Pacific Garbage Patch
(Issue 353: 22 - 28 March 2013)
Carefully read this week’s Special Report, then answer these questions:
Part C: Analyse the writing and presentation
C3) Look at the following language choices:
debris
consume
big deal
photosynthesis
phytoplankton
Which one is the odd-one-out and what effect does the use of such language have?
...................................................................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................................................
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C4) What techniques are used in the concluding sentence to encourage the reader to help?
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Learning through news
www.FirstNews.co.uk
FirstNews Lead Story: Article Analysis
Special Report: Great Pacific Garbage Patch
(Issue 353: 22 - 28 March 2013)
Teacher answers and assessment level guidelines
The teacher answers are intended to provide a guide as to the AF strand of the question and possible
responses from pupils working at different levels. In the level 5/6 answers we try to provide the most
complete answer possible in order to provide teaching points when discussing the answers with pupils.t
A1. What and where is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
AF2 - understand, describe, select, retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to the text.
Possible answer:
L4-relevant points identified
• The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an area of the Pacific Ocean containing a high concentration of rubbish. The area lies between
Hawaii and California.
L5- relevant points clearly identified
• The Great Pacific Garbage Patch has formed in the centre of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre.
A2. What is a gyre?
AF2 - understand, describe, select, retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to the text.
Possible answers:
L4- relevant points identified
• A gyre is a current in the ocean that moves in a circular way.
L5-further information
• The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre picks up litter and as it moves with the current, the debris is collected in the middle, where it
becomes trapped and builds up.
A3. What is the effect of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch on turtles and birds?
AF2 - understand, describe, select, retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to the text.
Possible answers:
L4- relevant points identified
• Turtles can confuse plastic bags for jellyfish and eat them which can cause them to die.
• Birds can get caught in the plastic rings that hold drinks cans together.
L5- relevant points clearly identified
• The turtle can die either as a result of choking on the plastic bag or by starvation, as the plastic bags build up in their stomachs so
they feel full.
• The ring can have a detrimental effect on the health of the bird because it can affect the bird’s growth or even strangle it.
A4. Why is it difficult to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
AF2 - understand, describe, select, retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to the text.
Possible answers:
L4- relevant points identified
• The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is in international waters, so no one country will pay to clean it up.
• It is hard to address the problem because no-one knows exactly how much of our oceans are contaminated by litter.
L5- relevant points clearly identified
• The North Subtropical Gyre is over 7,000,000 square miles. Therefore, due to the size of the area and the fact that some of the heavier
litter will have sunk below the surface, there’s no way to know the exact size, location and content of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
A5. What is the Big Beach clean-up?
AF2 - understand, describe, select, retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to the text.
Possible answers:
L4- relevant points identified
• The Big Beach clean-up is an event in which 113 beaches around the UK coastline will be cleaned.
L5- relevant points clearly identified
• The event is organised by School of Fish, along with M&S and The Marine Conservation Society. It will be happening this April.
Learning through news
www.FirstNews.co.uk
FirstNews Lead Story: Article Analysis
Special Report: Great Pacific Garbage Patch
(Issue 353: 22 - 28 March 2013)
Part B: interpret the information
B1. Why is it significant that litter in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch can come from all over the world?
AF3 - deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
Possible answers:
L4- some inference with explanation
• It is significant because it shows the extent of the problem. The volume of litter in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch must be huge if it
is coming from many different places around the world.
L5/6- comments start to consider significance of information
• The fact that different countries are involved is also significant because it hinders any clean-up mission as no-one will take
responsibility for the mess.
• Furthermore, the litter can take years to come from the different countries. Litter from Japan can take about a year to end up in the
Garbage Patch whilst litter from the USA and Canada can take six years before it ends up there. The fact that it takes different lengths
of time for the litter to travel from the different countries is significant because it must make it even more difficult to monitor the
situation.
B2.Why might species such as sharks and tuna die out completely because of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
AF3 - deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
Possible answers:
L4- some inference with explanation
• Sharks and tuna might die out completely because of the effect of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch on the food web. If small fish and
turtles die out then sharks and tuna will have nothing to feed on.
L5- more detailed explanation
• The litter which is part of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch collects on the surface of the ocean and blocks the sunlight from the sealife below. This means that the plants cannot use the sunlight to create their energy/fuel through photosynthesis. Therefore they will
die. This in turn causes small fish and turtles to die out because of the lack of algae and phytoplankton for them to eat. Therefore, even
though they are higher up in the food web, sharks and tuna may also die out because there will be no small fish and turtles for them
to feed on. It is all connected.
B3. Why does the report include details about how long it takes for our everyday items to break-down?
AF3 - deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
Possible answers:
L4- some inference with explanation
• It is shocking how long it takes for some everyday items to break down. For example, plastic bags take between 450-1,000 years to
break down and glass bottles take 1 million years! Therefore, the information is included to make the readers think more carefully
about how they dispose of such items.
L5/6- comments start to consider significance of information
• Also, the details help to highlight how bad the problem with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is because it supports the information
about scientists having collected 2,000,000 bits of plastic from just one square mile of it. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is in the
North Pacific Subtropical Gyre which is over 7,000,000 square miles. Given that 2,000,000 bits of plastic were collected from just one
square mile of the Garbage Patch shows how bad the problem could be. The plastic won’t go away because it won’t break down easily.
B4. Give reasons to explain why David de Rothschild made a catamaran out of waste plastic bottles.
AF3 - deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
Possible answers:
L4/5- inference with some developed explanation
• David Rothschild made a catamaran out of waste plastic to show how strong it is even when it has been disposed of as rubbish.
• As an environmentalist Rothschild is concerned with the protection of the planet. Therefore, it is likely that he built the plastic
catamaran to convey the message that people should make better use of their plastic waste by reusing it or recycling it. He shows the
huge potential that waste plastic has.
Learning through news
www.FirstNews.co.uk
FirstNews Lead Story: Article Analysis
Special Report: Great Pacific Garbage Patch
(Issue 353: 22 - 28 March 2013)
Part B: interpret the information
B5. M&S is a major British retailer, so why do you think it is working alongside The Marine Conservation Society on School of
Fish and The Big Beach clean-up?
AF3 - deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
Possible answers:
L4- some inference with explanation
• These days many consumers want to be greener and more ethical. By being associated with The Marine Conservation Society
on projects such as School of Fish and the Big Beach clean-up M&S shows that it is responding to its customers desire to be more
environmental. In doing so the retailer will be hoping that it can keep its customers loyal and even gain new customers.
L5/6-comments consider some wider implications of information
• School of Fish and The Big Beach clean-up are designed to give the public information and to get them to take positive action to
protect the seas, shores and wildlife. Being connected with these projects helps M&S to highlight some of the good work that they do,
such as how they focus on selling sustainably-sourced fish. Also, by getting people to work with them M&S effectively joins as a team
with the public. This may all make people feel more inclined to shop with the retailer as like-minded.
• Customers may want to be greener but not really understand the issues fully. As School of Fish is an interactive website they seem
easy to understand, M&S makes sure that their customers understand and appreciate the work that they do to make themselves more
ethical. As the website is accessible to young people M&S is also making the consumers of the future aware of their brand in a positive
way.
Learning through news
www.FirstNews.co.uk
FirstNews Lead Story: Article Analysis
Special Report: Great Pacific Garbage Patch
(Issue 353: 22 - 28 March 2013)
Part C: Analyse the writing and presentation
C1. What is the purpose of this Special Report? Find evidence to support your answer.
AF6 - identify and comment on writers’ purposes and viewpoints, and the overall effect of the text on the reader
Possible answers:
L4-main purpose identified
L5-main purpose clearly identified
• The purpose of this Special Report is to give information about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and to persuade the reader to get
involved with the Big Beach Clean-up. As the Special Report is written by School of Fish it also tries to persuade the reader to access
the School of Fish website.
• It is clear that the report is informative because it contains lots of facts such as the explanation of what a gyre is. There is also the use
of some persuasive techniques such as rhetorical questions, the School of Fish and Big Beach clean-up logos and website addresses.
C2. Comment on the positioning of the School of Fish and Big Beach clean-up! logos.
AF4 - identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including grammatical and presentational features at text
level.
Possible answer:
L4/5-some explanation of presentational features
• The logos are placed towards the top of the article to draw attention to them. They are also in line with each other which makes it
more obvious that the logos use the same bright azure and yellow colour scheme. Thus the connotations of clean oceans and sandy
beaches are even more obvious. This is important as the focus of School of Fish and the Big Clean-up event is on the health of oceans
and shores. The way in which the logos are positioned close to each other, and indeed complement each other, is appropriate as
School of Fish is helping to organise the Big Beach Clean-up event.
C3. Look at the following language choices:
debris consume big deal photosynthesis phytoplankton
Which one is the odd-one-out and what effect does the use of such language have?
AF5 - explain and comment on writers’ use of language, including grammatical and literacy features at word and sentence level
Possible answers:
L4-simple comments on writer’s choices
• The odd-one-out is “big deal” because it is a phrase rather than a single word. The use of the phrase makes the report seem less
formal.
L5/6-good awareness of how the writer’s language choices contribute to the overall effect on reader
• The phrase “big deal” is much more colloquial than the other language choices listed. The other language choices are quite
sophisticated, particularly the references to “photosynthesis” and “phytoplankton” which are quite specialist biological terms.
• The use of informal language such as “big deal” makes the information in the article more appealing and accessible to the target
audience of young people. This is because it is the type of language that they would be likely to use with their peers. It gives the piece
a friendly tone which might encourage readers to persevere with the more challenging language elsewhere in the report.
C4. What techniques are used in the concluding sentence to encourage the reader to help?
Possible answers:
L4 - some basic features of writer’s language identified
L5 - various features of writer’s language identified, with some explanation
L6 - some detailed explanation, with appropriate terminology, of how language is used
A number of persuasive techniques are used in the concluding sentence:
• The last sentence takes the form of a rhetorical question which makes the reader think about how they have got nothing to lose by
finding out how to get involved in the Big Beach Clean-Up. The phrase “Why not go...” is also quite colloquial which the reader might
find easy to relate to.
• The School of Fish website address is written in bold which makes it stand out and seem more memorable. Thus readers would be
more likely to use it.
• The reference to helping to “turn the tide on litter” is a metaphor meaning that there needs to be a change in direction. In this case
humans need to change their behaviour and create less litter. The metaphor is appropriate because the article is literally about oceans
so the mention of “the tide” is particularly fitting. It helps the writer to end on a slightly more light-hearted note which might put the
reader in the mood to help.
Learning through news
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