Each group needs:

• 1 clean plastic 2-liter bottle, cut in half horizontally (recycled works well)
• 1 coffee filter
• 500 mL clean gravel (approximately 1-2 cm diameter)
• 500 mL clean sand
• 250 mL activated charcoal (available at pet stores in aquarium section, ~$10/kg; alternatively, can just use additional sand layers if activated charcoal is not available)
• 1 rubber band
• 3-4 cotton balls
• 2 beakers or metric measuring cups (500 mL capacity)
• 1 stirring rod
• 1 standard classroom microscope (or 1 document camera)
• 2 microscope slides and cover slips
• safety equipment
• safety goggles (1 pair per student)
• disposable gloves (1 pair per student)
• lab aprons (1 per student)

For the entire class to share:

•  laptop or tablet with projector (to show YouTube videos and display Microplastics Presentation)
• microplastic sample solution (can be created using 5 g of finely ground plastic glitter in 1 L of water)
• 5 g plastic glitter
• 1 L water
• clear plastic or glass container
• stirring rod
• paper towels (for cleanup)
• metric measuring cups or beakers for distributing materials

Optional multimedia resources:

• video options:
• "How microplastics affect your health" by UNEP (1:56 minutes)   
• “How dangerous are microplastics and how often do people ingest them?” by CBS News (6:15 minutes; stop at 4:15 minutes)
• digital camera or smartphone for documenting results
• laptop or tablet for research and documentation (1 per group)