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Oil, Oil Everywhere
Lesson 1:
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Lesson
Handouts
Academic Standards
Philanthropy Framework
6th-8th Grade
Subjects:

Library / Technology, Philanthropy and Science

Key Words/Concepts click to view
PHIL: Common Good; Community; Emergency Response; Environmental Stewardship; Helping; Oil Spill; Stewardship; Volunteer
SCI: Cause/Effect; Ecosystems; Environment

Purpose:

This lesson will allow the learners to experience the human impact on ecosystems by participating in an event-based investigation.

Duration:

One- Forty-Five Minute Class Period

Objectives:

The learner will:

  • analyze ideas from literature.
  • understand the interdependence of organisms on the Earth.
  • increase their understanding of how humans affect an animal’s ecosystem.
  • brainstorm ways to clean up an ecosystem.
  • analyze ideas from literature.

Materials:

  • Container of motor oil
  • Large clear container of water
  • Wooden craft sticks, ice cream sticks, or feathers
    Teacher Note: Be mindful that feathers are consider sacred by some Native American people. The use of certain kinds of feathers for this purpose might be considered offensive, however for the purpose of this lesson, a feather (goose, duck, or chicken feather) is suggested to demonstrate as closely as possible the affects of oil on birds' feathers.
  • Book: The Exxon Valdez: Tragic Oil Spill
  • Copies of Attachment One, Understanding An Oil Spill for each learner
Handout 1
Understanding An Oil Spill

Teacher Preparation:

Used motor oil can be recycled and should not go down the sink drain. You can bring the oil from this lesson to any auto service station for recycling. This website has more information: http://www.recycleoil.org/more.html 

Instructional Procedure(s):

Anticipatory Set:
Show the learners a clear container of motor oil.  Ask the learners how they think the oil is used.  How might the oil be transported from the ground to places where it can be refined and distributed around the world?  Tell the learners that this motor oil is going to represent unrefined or crude oil like the oil that is carried by tankers to different parts of the world.  Access the learners’ prior knowledge of oil and how it is transported by allowing a few minutes of discussion.

  • Slowly pour the motor oil into the clear container of water.  Ask the learners to observe what is happening.

     
  • Ask: What happens to the oil? (It floats on the surface of the water.)

     
  • Dip a wooden craft stick or feather into the oil and have the learners observe what happens. (The oil adheres to the sick.)

     
  • Ask: What conclusion can you develop about water and oil?  (They don’t mix.)  What conclusion can you develop about the craft stick or feather and the oil? Introduce the book The Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill.  Read selected excerpts from the book that relate directly to how the Exxon Valdez caused the oil spill in Alaska. Teacher's Note: Preview the book before sharing it with the learners. This is a lengthy and detailed book. Choose short sections that deal with the oil spill, the harm that was done to the environment and how volunteers traveled from all over the world to help clean up the spill that washed onto shore and to clean the oil off the animals.

     
  • Give each student or small group of students a copy of Attachment One: Understanding an Oil Spill.

     
  • Ask the learners to select one major oil spill to research and report on. They may work with a group or respond to the questions on the handout independently.

     
  • After a reasonable amount of time, discuss the learners’ answers as a group.

     
  • Point out that many volunteers traveled at their own expense to the Gulf of Mexico (and Prince William Sound, Alaska) to help with the on-shore clean-up after these big oil spills caused extensive environmental damage. Discuss why volunteers would sacrifice their time and money for this purpose. 
     

Assessment:

Subjectively assess learners’ participation in the class discussion.  Collect the worksheets and correct them for completeness

Cross-Curriculum Extensions:

Ask the learners to write a story about an imaginary animal that has been affected by an oil spill like the Exxon Valdez.

Bibliographical References:

  • Schouweiler, Thomas. The Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill. Lucent Books, 1991. ISBN: 1560060166

Lesson Developed By:

David Walls
Holton Public Schools
Holton Middle School
Holton, MI 49425

Jessica Wagenmaker
Holton Public Schools
Holton Middle School
Holton, MI 49425

Handouts:

Handout 1Print Handout 1

Understanding An Oil Spill

Name: ________________________

Answer the following questions.

1. What is the location of a big oil spill and what is the spill called?

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

2. How did the oil spill happen?

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

 3. How was the wildlife in that area affected by the spilled oil?

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What are some ways an oil spill can be cleaned up?

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

 5. How can oil spills like this one be prevented from happening again?

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

Philanthropy Framework:

Comments

Alexandria, Educator – Louisville, KY9/30/2010 7:45:43 PM

I am teaching Life Skills and Career Choices to 8th grade students. After discovering this lesson plan, I had a wonderful idea about how to teach environmental science and the effects of the oil spill. During each grading period, the students are responsible for researching two different careers. This lesson introduces two concepts: 1. volunteers involved in the clean up and, 2. the sudden demand for people with advanced knowledge and skills to plan the clean up and then to monitor the other effects, such as the oil that is now on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. How do we clean that mess up and what other problems will that cause? Our focus is on the need for well educated people in science, people who can think of formidable ways to handle crisis situations, such as this one. I would love to invite someone from BP to introduce the team that worked to plug the well, someone to tell about the ships involved in scouring the surface oil, the volunteers who were formerly shrimp fishermen, and others who would expose the students to the real-world drama of critical-thinking skills, or, "What do we do now?"

April, Teacher – something, Argentina10/8/2010 4:45:28 PM

I thought this was a great idea for a science lab! Thanks!

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