3.11 How Can We Clean Up an Oil Spill? - Lab

Directions:

Now that you have had the opportunity to read about different methods that are used to clean up oil spills, you have the challenge to design a method that we can use. To do this, you will create your own lab experiment using the scientific method you reviewed in Module 1.

Problem: How can an oil spill be cleaned in the open ocean?

• You are to use the site on the Lesson page and your own knowledge to brainstorm how you could possibly clean up the oil. List your ideas.
• Now choose one that you think will work and state a hypothesis.
• The next part is all up to you. You must develop an experiment you can perform at home that will simulate the clean up in the ocean.
• Do the lab. Set it up, try it out, and collect your data. Remember to perform the experiment more than once to see if you get the same results. Take pictures of the lab and you doing the work.

You must write a lab report for your experiment that contains the following:

• Title
• Problem
• Hypothesis
• Materials
• Lab Procedure
• Data collected
• Analysis
• Conclusion
• Be sure to include how this would work in the natural environment to clean up the spill we found.
• Also include a comment area about how well the lab worked, problems you had, and how you would change the lab if you did it again.

Helpful Hint: When using oil in the lab, use only vegetable oil, not motor oil. Although motor oil may give you more of a realistic look, it is difficult to dispose of properly. Remember, it is toxic so you do not want to wash it down the sink. Also, do NOT, under any circumstances, set fire to your oil in any way. You must use other methods to clean your oil since setting fire to oil in the open ocean as a solution would be damaging to the environment, and also to the people cleaning up the spill!