Oil Spill Project

Grant

Total Budget Cost: $1,052.95

Abstract

            The Texas coast is a unique system of bays, which supports a diverse ecosystem. The traffic generated by the petroleum industry is a constant threat to these bay environments. A disaster, such as an oil spill in one of the many bays, can disrupt the fragile ecosystem and result in long term damage that could hurt other industries in Texas.

            This project is aimed at providing inner-city school children with the chance to work as scientists to resolve an oil spill in the Corpus Christi Bay. The project consists of a five-week curriculum, which consists of experimentation and benchmark lessons. The students will use aspects of chemistry, biology, and geology to determine a method for oil spill clean up. The students will need to be critical of their choices. Each group will provide justifications for their methods based on scientific facts and arguments. There are three major goals that this project will accomplish: 1) students will develop methods of cleaning up the environment when an oil spill occurs; 2) students will gain knowledge of oil and its properties; 3) students will develop their critical thinking skills through self-developed experimentation and problem solving.

This project is a movement away from the classical teaching environment. The methods provided using this curriculum gives students applicable experience in solving realistic problems that scientists face. Students will be able to present their models to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the hope that their results will affect how oil spills are dealt with in the future.

 

Rationale

            The Texas coast is a unique system of bays, which spans from Louisiana to Mexico. The physical and ecological features of the bay systems create an environment that is conducive for an enormous diversity of flora and fauna, some of which can only be found along the Texas gulf coast. Industry threatens the safety of the ecology of the bay system. Petroleum shipping and processing is a predominant industry head along the Texas gulf coast. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, ÒNinety percent of the shipping traffic involves petroleum products, and the surrounding petrochemical industries pose the greatest potential for environmental concernsÓ. This large amount of traffic presents the possibility for disastrous effects caused by a tanker wreck.

            In this project, students will be given the charge of cleaning an oil spill of 100 barrels in Corpus Christi Bay. The students will work together to examine and find solutions to clean the water and save the wildlife, so as to allow only minimal damage to the ecosystem. Students will be required to work with live data on hydrological flow and weather to track the spill. Students will be able to investigate current methods used for cleaning of oil spills. Afterwards, the students will determine conclusions on which method will work the best given the conditions provided. Presentations will be given to the entire class at the end of the project. The students will then have the opportunity to present their findings to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services in hope that their results may benefit in the case of future incidents.

 

Description

In this project, students will work together as a team of scientists to resolve a man-made disaster. They will explain the chemical and biological damage that an oil spill can cause in a fragile ecosystem. The students will use aspects of chemistry, biology, and geology to determine a method for oil spill clean up. Students will collaborate in groups of 2-4 to determine a method to clean an oil spill in Corpus Christi Bay along the coast of Texas. Students will be given benchmark lessons in the areas of chemistry such as: density, pH, acid-base theory, introductory organic chemistry, properties of water and oil, and separations.

Groups will be introduced to a hypothetical disaster that has just struck Corpus Christi Bay. They will use software (Gnome©) that will allow them to track the movement of their oil spill. This software is offered as a free download from Office of Response and Restoration. They will learn how the geology of the Texas coast is unique and creates an area of extreme diversity. Students will then need to determine what damage the oil spill is causing to the biological life in the bay. In their presentations, they will discuss how chemical changes, induced from the oil slick, are affecting the ecosystem.

Over the five-week period of the project, the students will experiment with some of the clean up methods. Each team will ultimately choose a method for clean up of the bay based upon criteria they determine is important such as timeliness, economic recovery, etcÉ All of the students are responsible for defending their choice of clean up method. Each group will experiment with their method to learn its implementation, success, and ramifications. In their presentations at the end of the project, the students will explain the ramifications of their choice of cleanup. Each group will create PowerPoint¨ presentations demonstrating what they have learned. These presentations will be given to the class and representatives of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

 

Budget

Material	Quantity	Cost per item
1 quart milk container	12	$1.00
Plastic water or sports drink bottles	12	$5.00
Graduated cylinders	12	$7.40
150 ml beakers	12	$5.80
Motor Oil	3 quarts	$1.67
Paper towels	60 rolls	$1.00
ENVIRO-BOND 403	300g	$27.45
Sodium polyacrylate	300g	$26.70
Gloves Latex	6 packages	$11.50
Goggles	35	$4.40
Aprons	12	$9.25
500 ml beakers	12	$5.35
Meter Sticks	12	$3.35
Large shallow plastic pans (white)	12	$2.00
Paper	1 package	$10.00
Computers	10	Supplied by school
PPT¨ software	10	Supplied by school
Fish Tank	1	$95
Can of Coke and a Can of Diet Coke	1	$2.00
2 liter bottles filled with: cotton balls, water, iron filings, and air	4	$4.00
Clear straws	1 pack	$2.00
Food coloring	1 pack	$2.00
Colored pencils	10	$5.95
Small test tubes for water	30	$.55
Salt	1box	$3.00
Detergent (different brands)	4bottles	$8.75

                                                                                                Total: $1,052.95

 

Project Calendar

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Week I	Introduction, anchor video, and readings	Group selection and lab familiarization	Topic discussion and selection	Technology lesson (computers, excel, web use, etcÉ)	Project research
Week II	Oil lecture	Oil on water lab	pH lecture	Project research	Class discussion of: 1) topic ideas; 2) information background
Week III	Density and separations lecture	Density lab	Hydrology lecture	Project research	Test (pH, density)
Week IV	PowerPoint¨ introduction	Project research	Teacher and group discussions	Project research	Paper draft due, guest speaker
Week V	Teacher/Group discussion of papers, work on corrections	Work on PowerPoint¨ presentations and rough draft corrections	Final paper due, work on power point presentations	PowerPoint¨ presentations	PowerPoint¨ presentations

 

Evaluation Plan

There are three major goals that this project will accomplish.

1)    Students will develop methods of cleaning up the environment when an oil spill occurs

2)    Students will gain knowledge of oil and itÕs properties

3)    Students will develop their critical thinking skills through experimentation and problem solving

The first of the goals is to introduce the students to the many possible clean up options. In evaluating the success of this goal, the projects will show their knowledge of when, where, how, what are the ramifications of their chosen method.

The second goal involves the basic knowledge in the lessons that we will give the students. Testing that covers the benchmark lessons occurs in the middle of the project calendar.

The third goal being addressed in this project is developing their critical thinking skills. Throughout their group projects the students are going to have to consider a number of different elements, such as time lines, wildlife safety, and economic costs. In the process of completing their papers and projects, they will have to prioritize and then address each of these elements. Their ability to utilize available information and collaborate to create a realistic plan will provide the needed evidence that this goal has been met.