Oil Spill Simulation
Oil Spill Simulation
Task: Explore how materials can be used to clean up an oil spill. Develop a proposal to recommend which materials and procedures would work best for cleaning up an oil spill. Create a presentation to share your proposal with an oil spill cleanup service.
Materials:
-bucket or container of water
-rock
-plant
-feather
-oil
-students worksheet
Activity: Gather a bucket of water (ocean, a rock with a plant on top (land) and a feather (bird).
Add a tablespoon of oil to the center of the bucket- this simulates and oil leakage.
Observe what happens for one minute. Next, gently blow on the water for a few seconds (this simulates the wind)- observe what happens.
Using the items listed on the table, you will have 20 minutes to clean up the spill. You will be “charged” for each item you choose to use. You have a budget of $100,000.
Cleaning up an oil spill is expensive and time consuming. Keep track of all your purchases and how much money you have left over. Record how effectively each item worked.
Develop a proposal to recommend which materials and procedures work best for cleaning up an oil spill. Within your proposal, include why you believe these are the appropriate materials and procedures to use for cleaning up an oil spill and the cost of using the materials.
Create a presentation using any media form of your choice to present your proposal to an oil spill cleanup service.
Standards:
S4.A.1.3.4 Explain what happens to a living organism when its food supply, access to water, shelter, or space is changed (e.g it might die, migrate, change behavior, eat something else)
S4.B.3.2.1 Describe what happens to a living things when its habitat is changed
S4.B.3.2.2 Describe and predict how changes in the environment (e.g. fire, pollution, flood, building dams) can affect systems
M04.A-T.2.1.1 Add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers