Cleaning up oil in water
In this activity, students experiment with oil in water. They observe the effects of oil in water and then attempt to clean up the oil using various sorbents. They also observe what happens when a chemical dispersant is added to the oil in the water and have a go at cleaning oil off bird feathers.
Cleaning up oil in water
In this activity, students experiment with oil in water. They observe the effects of oil in water and then attempt to clean up t
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
discuss what a sorbent is and how it works
identify some sorbents used for cleaning oil spills
discuss the pros and cons of leaving oil to disperse itself
explain in simple terms how chemical dispersants work on oil
discuss the pros and cons of chemical dispersants
explain why people need to clean oil off birds’ feathers after an oil spill.
Download the Word file (see link below) for:
introduction/background notes
what you need
what to do
student handout.