1. What is the Effect of an Oil Spill on Water resources and our environment? When oil spills occur, concerns are raised about the effects of oil on the water, animals, and environment. The first section of the exercise has to do with the activity. The second section has to do with an oil spill in general and what you can do to help the environment in taking care with motor oil, chemicals and other solutions..
Section 1:Complete the activity using the cooking oil and materials. Use a table for the data and the results.
Materials:one tablespoon cooking oil, quart bowl orflat container that holds at least three cups of water, cotton balls, paper towel, newspaper, piece of plastic from a garbage bag, piece of material and or nylon if you have it, piece of string if you have it Liquid dish detergent
Directions:
Fill the bowl or flat container with water.Add one tablespoon of cooking oil. What is happening to the oil?
Now take each item and try to clean up the oil.What happens? Stir the water/oil each time.
If you have the string, use it to confine the oil. What happens?
Finally add two drops of liquid dish detergent.What happens?
What is your conclusion as to cleaning up oil on water?
Create a table using the materials, your predict, and the conclusion. To create a table go to Insert, tableor use Excel
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Materials
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What do you think will happen?
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What happens?
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conclusion
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cotton
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plastic
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newspaper
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paper towel
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feather if you have one
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cotton material
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nylon material
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string
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Dish detergent
Describe what happens when you add to the after happens when you add the oil to the water?
How difficult is it to clean up oil in water?
What material absorbed the oil the best?
What material absorbed the oil the least?
Which brand of paper towel did you use?
Do you think this would make a difference?
What type of dish detergent did you use?
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Section 2:
Background: Oil spills are neither necessarily accidental nor dramatic. The majority of oil in the ocean has little to do with the media-reported off-shore accidents and a lot to do with some unnoticed, everyday occurrences.
More than 54% of the oil in the ocean comes from land based sources such as storm water run-off, leaks from storage facilities and industrial processes.
At least 40% of all land-based oil pollution may result from motorists' changing their own oil and disposing of it improperly. Used motor oil should be taken to a service station, where they will dispose of it properly.
Marine sources, including tanker operations contribute 18%. Tanker accidents contributed 11%.
In April there was a major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico with British Petroleum's drilling site. You will research this major oil spill and others that have occurred within the United States affecting the water quality, wildlife, and environment.
Answer the questions below,
What is an oil spill? How does an oil spill affect wildlife and habitats?
What are the effects of an oil spill for the environment and economy?
Among the worst oil spills where does the Exxon Valdez rank?How many tons of oil was lost?
How did the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico occur in April, 2010? What are some of the after effects of the spill at this time?What predictions are environmentalists making for as to the effects both short term and long term?
How is the EPA monitoring the Gulf oil spill as to air quality, water quality etc?
How many tons of oil has been lost at this time?
What is the difference between the Valdez spill and the Gulf of Mexico spill?
What can you do to protect Lake Erie waters everyday by what you do at home?