How Much Trace Do We Leave? Find the Planted Litter

The teacher has planted thirty pieces of fake microlitter in a 'picnic' area and groups search for them walking in silence. It shows how hard it is to spot what we leave behind and why you should sweep a site carefully before leaving.

How to play

1. Setup: in this 20 x 20 m area a group had a picnic and left 30 small bits behind (bottle caps, rubber bands, crumpled bits of foil) (1 min).
2. Search in groups of three, walking and silent, one bag per group (3 min).
3. Count: how many the class found in total. The teacher points out the missing ones and why they were hard to see, like green ones in the grass (2 min).
4. Reflection while walking to the locker room: the line-sweep technique when breaking camp and the idea of leaving a place better than you found it (2 min).

Rules

• Walk; no running or shoving to grab an item.
• Only pick up planted items; if you find real trash, tell the teacher.
• Search silently to keep the pace calm.
• All items go back to the teacher for next time.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: searches the nearest sector with a long-handled picker.
• Visually impaired: items with a bell or texture and a partner guiding the search.
• Back injury: counts and points but doesn't bend down.

Learning goals

• Become aware of the small waste left behind in nature.
• Use the line-sweep technique when leaving a site.
• Wind down with an attention task.

Equipment for a class of 25

• small colored objects: 30
• bags: 8

Teacher tip

Plant the items during the main activity while the class is elsewhere, and note how many of each color there are. The usual mistake is making them too easy to see; hide at least a third in camouflaged spots.

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