2020 Science Without Borders® Challenge: Middle School Finalists
Congratulations to the middle school finalists in our 2020 Science Without Borders® Challenge! This international student art competition aims to engage middle students in ocean conservation through art. This year we asked students to illustrate things people can do to help save coral reefs–and boy did they deliver!
"What We Don’t See" by Catherine Chan, Age 14, United States
The world we live in today has a problem that is only multiplying over time... plastic. We litter it everywhere, mindlessly. It damages our world without us even realizing it. Our garbage is changing the lives of many living creatures for the worse. My artwork portrays a diver with a baby octopus that, sadly, has a torn and dirty plastic cup as its protection. The diver offers the octopus a beautiful natural shell to use instead of the plastic cup. Throwing our plastic everywhere is one major contributor to ocean pollution. I am seeking to enhance awareness of this problem through my painting. Plastic, which is an active transporter of pathogens, is one serious issue killing coral and bringing disease into formerly thriving reefs. We should take action by eliminating the plastic waste going into oceans and by reducing our use of it. Since many people are unable to physically see the harm that plastic is doing to our reefs, I illustrated an image to make it visually accessible to the world, so that the unseen becomes seen.