Bulgarian Team

Another part of “Marine Plasticology sessions” was held at Angel Kanchev Third Secondary School. It was a practical lesson on the topic «Sand on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast». Children from the primary were in action. The questions that the students had to answer were the following:

1. What does sand consist of and what types of sand are there along the Black Sea coast;
2. What is the color of the sand grains and why they have different colors;
3. What is the origin of the shells in the sand;
4. What are the main pollutants on the beach near Varna.

The students were divided into groups. They examined sand samples with the help of magnifying glass. They found that the sand consisted of:

• shells of marine organisms;
• black mussels and white sand mussels, mussels Venus Gallina, Cardium edule snails, rapani;
• green and brown algae.

They examined samples of rocks and minerals from which most of the sand was formed — limestone, basalt, transparent and yellow quartz.

Students found that in addition to quartz sand, along the Black Sea coast there is also black magnetic sand, which contains the mineral magnetite.

It was interesting to compare the Black Sea sand with a sample of sand from the Sahara Desert in Africa, pointing out several differences in the color and size of the sand.

Children presented information about the black mussel and rapana. Rapana venosa is a biological invader of the Black Sea and destroys the black mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. The white sand mussels of the species Venus Gallina and Cardium edule have already been destroyed by Rapana venosa and we find only shells on the beach.

At the end of the class the main pollutants on the coast and on the beach sand were discussed:

• plastic /plastic packaging, bottles, cutlery/;
• paper /mainly packaging/;
• cigarettes;
• glasses and glass bottles.