Coming Soon: Our 2025 Community Awards Celebration Video!
As the school year comes to a close, we are thrilled to celebrate the incredible students and educators across the globe who have been part of the Wayfinder Society program! This year’s virtual celebration will not only spotlight these inspiring individuals, but also highlight some of the powerful actions students have taken and other milestones we've accomplished together. With engagement from students across continents, our collective momentum has never been stronger. We can't wait to reflect on an incredible year of strengthening the global movement to address the plastic pollution problem and protect our ocean!
Please contribute to our virtual community yearbook here!
Recent Events
Missed an event? Watch our recorded events below.
College Perspectives: Inspiring Change Through the Arts
Watch this recording from the April 2025 College Perspectives panel event. This panel features three incredible college students and recent graduates who are leveraging art as a tool to increase environmental awareness.
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College Perspectives: Tackling Plastics Through Community Organizing
Watch this recording from the March 2025 College Perspectives panel event. This panel features three incredible college students and recent graduates who are tackling plastic pollution through engaging their peers and community members.
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College Perspectives: Researching Plastics Through Science and Sociology
Watch this recording from the February 2025 event, College Perspectives: Researching Plastics Through Science and Sociology. This panel features three incredible college students and recent graduates who are tackling plastic pollution through innovative and interdisciplinary research.
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2025 Student Mini-Grant Information Session
This recording is from our virtual Student Mini-Grant Information Session on Jan 15, 2025. Our Student Mini-Grant is our annual offering for students ages 11-25 across the globe who are looking for financial support for their personal education, school and community projects, internships, networking events, etc. connected to addressing the plastic crisis.
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Educator Workshop – Plastics, Fracking, and Climate Change with Guest Speaker Dr. Ted Auch, FracTracker Alliance
During this educator workshop we’ll help you get comfortable with two of our free lessons (grades 6 and up) that engage students in exploring the connections between plastic production and climate change. These lessons employ interactive digital maps produced by our partners at FracTracker Alliance. The lessons introduce students to GIS, an important analytical tool used in many disciplines especially environmental and social sciences. Guest speaker Ted Auch, Ph.D. of FracTracker Alliance explains the fracking industry’s connection to plastics, and talks about how their nonprofit brings together geography, data science, and policy to work towards environmental justice for communities across America and the globe who are impacted by fossil fuel extraction and plastic production buildout. For middle school, high school and college educators in Environmental Science, Social Science, APES, Geography, Political Science and related subjects.
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Overview of Our Plastic Pollution Teaching Resources
Want to incorporate plastic pollution into your curriculum but don’t know where to start? We have many free resources for Grades 4-12 including lessons, science toolkits, and more. In this overview of our resources we share ideas for incorporating this important topic into your curriculum. Our resources will help you bring current, real-world environmental science education into your classroom, whether it’s through the NGSS standards, climate change literacy, marine bio, AP Environmental Science or your school’s Green Team.
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The Story of Plastic Classroom Guide Walkthrough
Algalita created a classroom experience guide to complement The Story of Plastic documentary. Since it’s release in 2019, this film has become a pivotal tool for educators globally to teach about plastic pollution and it’s impact on people and planet. This recording is from a Zoom event that walked participants through this resource to help educators incorporate this tool into their curriculum.
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Introducing the “Plastic Ocean” Lesson Series
Join us and the group of educators helping us create classroom lessons inspired by our keystone book, “Plastic Ocean,” written by our founder Captain Charles Moore. We present the new lessons and and discuss different ways to use this comprehensive teaching tool in your class.
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Resource Spotlight – How to Use Your Synthetic Sand Investigation Kit
Did you recently receive one of Algalita’s Synthetic Sand Investigation Kits, or are you thinking of requesting one? Are you looking for resources for your middle school Synthetic Materials Unit? In this Resource Spotlight, we’ll walk you through the Synthetic Sand investigation activity, discuss how to incorporate it into your Synthetic Materials unit, and provide additional information about plastic pollution and how it is a prime example of how human-made materials impact our planet.
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Uplifting Policy Updates to Inspire Your Students
This recording will get you up to date on local California legislation, national policy, and global treaties including the Break Free From Plastic Act, The UN Global Treaty on Plastic, and more. Together, we dive into how we can use these policies to bring hope, inspiration, and motivation to your students
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2023-2024 Community Awards Celebrations
As the school year comes to a close, we are excited to celebrate the incredible students and educators across the globe who have received our Mini-Grant awards this past year! Not only is this event to spotlight these incredible change makers, but attendees will also have the chance to brainstorm and collaborate with movement members in their interest areas (ie advocacy, environmental justice, research, and more). Family and friends of awardees are more than welcome to join us as with any other community members!
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Navigating Your Future: Pathways to Eco-Professions
From policy and storytelling to research and philanthropy, there are so many existing and new emerging career pathways all aimed at making a meaningful impact on our planet and communities. Whether you are a student exploring options or a seasoned professional looking to switch things up, this virtual event will shed light on the broad array of professions that contribute to a healthy planet by spotlighting the stories and experiences of real professionals in our network.
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What is Wayfinder Society for Environmental Education?
Learn about Wayfinder Society’s lesson plans, tool kits, how-to guides, grant programs, and student hub.
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Student Hub Launch and Tour
Join us for a walkthrough of the Wayfinder Society Student Hub where you can engage your students in home, school, and community level action projects that turn their environmental knowledge into action.
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“Algalita provides first-class opportunities to learn from others [addressing] the same environmental issues. They treat students as leaders that have the chance to make a difference.”
-Pamela Weinstein, 7th Grade Educator
