Oil Spill CleanupLoriel Maloy

University of Arizona SouthSignature Assignment Integrated Unit

Unit RationaleThis science discovery unit is a collection of

integrative lessons involving the impact of oil spills and the environmental effects. The unit is designed for 4th grade students, and has been aligned with

both national and state standards. I chose this topic to help students become informed about the causes and effects of oil spills on the environment.

Students will build upon what they already know about the impacts of natural events on the

environment to develop an understanding of the impact of human activities on the environment.

This unit will incorporate the use of guided inquiry to increase engagement, exploration, elaboration,

and understanding.

Day One: Engage• Students will watch a short YouTube video

on the impact of an oil spill on wildlife. • Students will participate in a read aloud of

the book Prince William.– Inferences, Questioning, Text-to-Self

Connections.

• Students will participate in an online activity that will demonstrate how an oil spill impacts the environment.

Day Two: Explore• Students will use maps to investigate

the effects of oil spills on the population.

• Students will demonstrate research skills by investigating oil spills throughout the world.

Link to activities

Day Three: Explore & Explain • Students will use mathematical concepts to

investigate and identify the amount of damage that oil spills cause by the determining the percentages of wildlife lost, the cost of cleanup, and the other economic impacts.

• Students will use collected mathematical data to create a poster that will display the information through the use of graphs, and charts.

Poster helpCost analysis Cost analysis 2

Day Four: Explore, Explain, and Elaborate• Students will explore the effects of oil spills

on plants, animals, and the environment.

• Students will investigate cleanup methods through a simulated oil spill.

 • Students will demonstrate their

understanding about the effects of oil spills by writing to an animal rescue organization.

Day Four: Oil Spill Clean Up Lab

Materials:• Simulated oil• Newspaper• Disposable aluminum pie pans (3 per team)• Rocks smaller than a deck of cards (3 per team)• Leafy carrot or celery tops (3 per team)• Pipe cleaners to represent animals• Water• 3 cups per team for collecting removed oil• Metric measuring cups (1 per team)• Red cup and green cup with the bottoms taped together (1 per

team)• Sealable sandwich bags with: spoon, fork, 50 cm of yarn, 20 cm

of nylon stocking, large cotton ball, disposable pipettes, coffee filter, and 5cm wide strip of paper towel.

Day Four: Oil Spill Clean Up Lab

Set up:• Cover area with newspaper• Collect materials from teacher• Place one rock in each pan to represent the

shore• Place a plant in each to represent shoreline

plants.• Use pipe cleaners to make models of animals• Fill the pan with 250 ml of water• Add 75 ml of oil to each pan

Day Four: Oil Spill Clean Up Lab

Procedure:1. Your job is to find out which materials will remove

the most oil from the pan. Choose three materials to test from your kit. You will test one per pan.

2. Make a prediction about which of the three materials will remove the most oil from the pan. Explain why you chose that material.

3. How will you decide which material remove the most oil?

4. Write a step-by-step procedure for your experiment.

5. Use a table to organize the data

Day Four: Oil Spill Clean Up Lab

Reflection:1. What effects did the oil spill have on

the simulated environment.2. Which material was best for

cleaning up the oil spill? What is your evidence?

3. If you were going to repeat this experiment, what would you do differently? Why?

Day Five: Explore, Engage, Elaborate, and Explain

Field Trip:• Students will visit the Aqua Caliente Park to

explore an animal and plant environment.

• Students will develop a plan for keeping the park clean and free of human pollutants.

• Students will utilize their creative writing skills to create a short story describing a rescue experience.

Unit ResourcesOnline resources• http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/oilspill/• http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/14/g35/dawnducks

.html• http://thinkfinity.org/state-standards-search• http://www.thinkfinity.org/oil_spill_classroom_resources• http://interactives.mped.org/view_interactive.aspx?id=357&title• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb25d0beam4• http://oils.gpa.unep.org/kids/kids.htm• http://www.gomr.boemre.gov/PI/PDFImages/ESPIS/3/3931.pdf• http://www.environmental-research.com/erc_papers/ERC_paper_1.pdf• http://www.owcn.org/component/content/article/1

Oil Spill Clean up Lab:Picture Perfect Science Lessons NSTA press