mathematics & science center oil spill clean-up: the natural way! image courtesy of epa
TRANSCRIPT
Mathematics & Science Center
Oil Spill Clean-Up: The Natural Way!
Image courtesy of EPA
Oil Spills… A Fact of Life
Photo by EPA
Spills Result From….
• Accidents
• Dumping
• Our “drains”
Photo by EPA
Various Types of Substances Find Their Way to the Bay
Photo by N. Hamm
And Have Negative Effects on the Ecosystem, Organisms, and US!
Photo by NOAA
Oil and Water
What happens when oil and water mix?
How can oil harm living organisms?
Photo by N. Hamm
Oil Floats on Water
Homogeneous mixture
Heterogeneous mixture
Photo by NOAA
Oil Spill Spreading
• With low wind speed
• With high wind speed
Photo by NOAA
How Would YOU Clean-up an Oil Spill?
Photo by EPA
Methods of Clean-up
• Biological
• Chemical
• Physical
(or Mechanical)Photo by EPA
BOOMS are First Used toContain the Oil Spill
Photo by EPA
Biological Methods
Photo by NOAA
Chemical
Photo by EPA
Physical Mechanical
Photo by EPA
Why Not Use…NATURAL RESOURCES!
• Occur naturally or are natural by-products
• Are readily available
• Do not harm the environment
• Are they effective? Which is best?
Your Task for Today
• Conduct an experiment using a Physical/Mechanical Method of oil clean-up!
• Determine which natural resource works the best for absorbing an oil spill!
Scientists Use MODELS toTest Their Hypotheses
Photo by N. Hamm
Natural Resources:
• Cotton
• Chicken Feathers!
• Sawdust
• Peat Moss and Spanish Moss
• Perlite
What is your HYPOTHESIS?
Rating the Different Materials
We will Rate TWO QUALITIES of the different materials:
• Their ability to absorb oil
• Their ease of use
Our Rating Scale
• We will rate the absorbency and the ease of use of each material by this scale:
1 = Good
2 = Fair
3 = Poor
One Team’s Results
Photo by A.C. Lundberg
Clean-up Procedure
1) Dump out pan into strainer in sink. Rinse out pan.
2) Wipe off utensils (fork, forceps…) and return to kit.
3) Close all materials bags and return to kit.
4) Throw away newspaper and material testing sheet.
5) Wipe off lab table.
Experimental Design
Title Which natural resource will clean-up
oil best?
Hypothesis I hypothesize that the _______ will
absorb oil the best.
Experimental Design
Independent Variable Type of natural resource
Methods
Trials (#) # per group or # per class
Experimental Design
Dependent Variable Amount of oil absorbed Ease of use
Constants Amount of oil, Time to absorb oil,
amount of material, type of oil, boom materials…
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Acknowledgements
• Most images used in this lesson were obtained from the public domain courtesy of the United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov
and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
http://www.noaa.gov
• Additional images provided by Norbert Hamm and Chris Lundberg of the Mathematics & Science Center
http://www.mathsciencecenter.info
Life