Everybody Clean Up!!

Jan 30 2012

Source: rcobb

Summary Information

Keywords:

oil spill, environment, Gulf of Mexico, oil drilling, environmental catastropies

Estimated Time Required:

less than 1 hour

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LESSON

Goals and Prerequisites

Goals:

Introduce students to the environmental and social damages caused by obtaining and using fossil fuels.

Develop students’ empathy toward people affected by problems caused by obtaining and using fossil fuels.

Prerequisites:

Knowledge of fossil fuels and how they were formed.

Uses for fossil fuels

Instructional Objective(s)

The student will be able to examine the different ways to obtain fossil fuels and describe the pros and cons of each.

The student will be able to explain and evaluate the damages of different types of pollution caused by obtaining fossil fuels.

The student will be able to assess and mitigate damages to wildlife after an oil spill.

Instructional Resources

Background:

Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years. The fossil fuels, which contain high percentages of carbon, include coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Fossil fuels range from volatile materials with low carbon:hydrogen ratios like methane, to liquid petroleum to nonvolatile materials composed of almost pure carbon, like anthracite coal. Methane can be found in hydrocarbon fields, alone, associated with oil, or in the form of methane clathrates. It is generally accepted that they formed from the fossilized remains of dead plants by exposure to heat and pressure in the Earth's crust over millions of years.

It was estimated by the Energy Information Administration that in 2007 primary sources of energy consisted of petroleum 36.0%, coal 27.4%, natural gas 23.0%, amounting to an 86.4% share for fossil fuels in primary energy consumption in the world. Non-fossil sources in 2006 included hydroelectric 6.3%, nuclear 8.5%, and others (geothermal, solar, tide, wind, wood, waste) amounting to 0.9 percent. World energy consumption was growing about 2.3% per year.

Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources because they take millions of years to form, and reserves are being depleted much faster than new ones are being made. The production and use of fossil fuels raise environmental concerns. A global movement toward the generation of renewable energy is therefore under way to help meet increased energy needs.

The burning of fossil fuels produces around 21.3 billion tonnes (21.3 gigatonnes) of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, but it is estimated that natural processes can only absorb about half of that amount, so there is a net increase of 10.65 billion tonnes of atmospheric carbon dioxide per year (one tonne of atmospheric carbon is equivalent to 44/12 or 3.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide). Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases that enhances radiative forcing and contributes to global warming, causing the average surface temperature of the Earth to rise in response, which the vast majority of climate scientists agree will cause major adverse effects.

Materials:

- Animal fur (buy an old fur coat from goodwill or a yard sale – must be real fur, not synthetic)

- Feathers

- Sand

- 15 - 9x13x2 metal trays

- Water

- Salt

- Dove soap

- Sponges

- Paper towels

- Used motor oil (when you get your oil changed, you can ask them to save it for you)

- Rubber gloves

- Goggles

Procedure:

Teacher set-up:

1. Each station will have 4 metal trays (except station 1, which will have 3). One each for fur, feathers, sand and water.

2. Coat fur and feathers with oil (should leave them soak at least overnight); place samples of each into trays. Four trays of each. Separate sand into four trays and add oil to top of sand.

3. Station 1: paper towels, tray of fur, tray of feathers and tray of sand. Station 2: sponges, tray of fur, tray of feathers, tray of sand and tray of plain water.

Station 3: sponges, tray of fur, tray of feathers, tray of sand and tray of salt water.

Station 4: sponges, tray of fur, tray of feathers, tray of sand and tray of soapy water.

With Students:

1. Discuss with students outcome of oil spills on environment. Review background information on animals and habitats damaged. Also include student discussion and ideas on clean up. Show students pictures of oil spill pollution and damage (depending on the age of your students, you may or may not want to include pictures of animals that have been hurt or killed).

How hard is it to get oil off of something?

What do you think will happen when we use just plain paper towels?

Do you think combining different materials will have a better outcome?

2. Students will break into groups (teacher’s discretion – I had them work in pairs). Explain to the students that they are now rescue workers; helping to clean up after an oil spill. Tell them they will be able to use any of the objects at the station to complete the task. The goal is to find which objects will clean the most oil out of the sample.

*How hard is it to get oil off of something?

*What do you think will happen when we use just plain paper towels?

*Do you think combining different materials will have a better outcome?

3. Each student will wear rubber gloves and safety goggles while performing this activity. Discuss the hazards of oil to our skin and body.

4. Students will rotate through each station and attempt to use the tools given to remove the oil from the various objects. Students can use objects separately or in conjunction. Students must keep track of what objects they are using and how they are using them.

5. After completing the task, students will regroup to discuss the outcome of the activity. What materials didn’t work? Which did? Which ones worked faster or more thoroughly? What was the purpose of using the salt water? What was the purpose of using the soapy water?

External Resources

http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=oil_home-basics

http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=coal_home-basics

http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=natural_gas_home-basics

http://tiki.oneworld.net/energy/energy3.html

http://www.kidzworld.com/article/1423-fossil-fuel-energy

http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/story/chapter08.html

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/technology_and_impacts/impacts/the-hidden-cost-of-fossil.html

http://water.usgs.gov/owq/deephorizonoilspill/

RESOURCES

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Everybody Clean Up!!

Pre-Activity Assessment, Mid-Activity Assessment, and Summative Assessment

STANDARDS

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Texas Standard: Everybody Clean Up!!

Standard Type: State Texas

Grade 5

Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student knowshow to use a variety of tools and methods to conduct science inquiry. The student is expected to:

use safety equipment, including safety goggles and gloves

Organisms and environments. The student knows that there are relationships, systems, and cycles within environments. The student is expected to:

predict the effects of changes in ecosystems caused by living organisms, including humans, such as the overpopulation of grazers or the building of highways

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