STEM LESSON/ACTIVITY FORMAT

Sebastian Gerstner TD 513

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Activity Name or Title: Oil Over the Ocean

2 Purpose of Activity:
The activity is designed to teach students the difficulties of cleaning oil spills. The activity will require
students to think outside of the box to design and create a solution to a simulated oil spill. Students will
work in engineering groups to assemble their creations and make observations.
Misconception: Students will learn how difficult cleaning oil spills can be and will discover that
despite what they previously may have thought, not all liquids mix. Some students may not
understand the impact of oil spills on the environment and our well being. This unit will look at
enlightening students to the complexity of solving oil spills.
Problem: Design a boom that will clean oil from an oil spill in a body of water. There is a body of water
covered in oil, how can we create a mechanism to clear off the oil?
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Target Learning Group [Age(s) or Grade Level(s)]:

4th grade

4 Approximate Time Involved:

Teacher preparation: 30 minutes. It will take time to distribute containers of water to the students
and proper portions of oil to each group of scientists. It may also be necessary to go over ways to
keep the room clean and distribute towels to place under the oil.
Student involvement: The students will need one class period of 45 minutes to come up with ideas
and start construction. It will take another class period (45 minutes) to start tests. Another class period
(45 minutes) may be used for alterations or further testing. This can also be time for students to
compile data and draw conclusions.
5 Science Content Background Information for Teacher with Reference(s):
Oil spills that occur near to land have damaging impacts on the environment. It would only require
three gallons of oil to cover an acre of land. Oil is slick and greasy making it difficult to clean up. Oil
spills like the Gulf oil spill that occurred in 2010 released an estimated 200,000 gallons of oil into the
ocean. Beyond oil spills though, oil still can get into the ocean from run off from cars when it rains and
through other natural causes.
Water molecules have a polarity that attract other atoms. H20 combine in a way that cause the oxygen
to be - and the hydrogen +. This causes water molecules to be attracted to each other. However, oil
molecules are non-polar. The molecules are balanced and therefore do not attract to water's molecules.
Therefore, no matter how much you stir water and oil, they will never mix. Oil molecules contain carbon
and hydrogen and they don't stick together. This causes oil to be thick and heavy but the molecules stay
far apart. This causes oil to be less dense which is why it floats on water.
In order for oil to be pulled from water, absorbent materials must be placed in water to soak up the oil
laying on top. The materials also have to be lightweight in order for them not to sink into the water past
the oil. The difficulty in these "booms" (as they are called) is that they have to be controlled in a way so

they go where the oil is. The complexity of trying to trap oil so it can soak into booms is the challenge we
face when trying to clean oil spills.
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NGSS Performace Expectation Involved:

Energy (Natural Resources)
4-ESS3-1: Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural
resources and their uses affect the environment.
Science and Engineering Practices: Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify
different kinds of materials by their observable properties
Disciplinary Core Ideas: We use many natural resources in the world that we rely on. Events like oil
spills have negative effects on the environment and our natural resources.
ESS3.A: Natural Resources: Energy and fuels that humans use are derived from natural sources, and
their use affects the environment in multiple ways. Some resources are renewable over time, and
others are not.
Crosscutting Concepts: Most scientists and engineers work in teams. (4-PS3-4)
Science affects everyday life. (4-PS3-4)
Engineering Design:
3-5-ETS1-1: Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes
specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
3-5-ETS1-2: Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how
well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
3-5-ETS1-3: Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure
points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
Science, Technology, Society, and the Environment
Interdependence of Science, Technology and Engineering
Engineering advances have led to important discoveries in virtually every
field of science and scientific discoveries have led to the development of

entire industries and engineered systems.

Science and technology drive each other forward.
Common Core Mathematics:
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.MD.A.2
Use the four operations to solve word problems involving distances, intervals of time,
liquid volumes, masses of objects, and money, including problems involving simple
fractions or decimals, and problems that require expressing measurements given in a
larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Represent measurement quantities using diagrams
such as number line diagrams that feature a measurement scale.
Common Core: English Language Arts
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.7
Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different
aspects of a topic.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.8
Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print
and digital sources; take notes and categorize information, and provide a list of sources.
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Materials and Advance Preparation: Groups of 4 students

Containers for water
Cooking oil
Measuring Cups
Possible Boom Materials
Cotton Balls
Laundry Lint
Paper Towel Strips
Makeup Removal Pads
Sponges
Any item that can float
Science Notebooks
Food Coloring (optional)

Lesson References:

Oil Spill Cleanup Experiments. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2016, from

http://www.hometrainingtools.com/a/oil-spill-cleanup-science-projects
Science Buddies Staff. (2015, January 22). Goo-Be-Gone: Cleaning Up Oil Spills. Retrieved
February 4, 2016 from http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fairprojects/project_ideas/EnvEng_p025.shtml
Timber Ridge Virtual Science Fair. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2016, from
http://web.archive.org/web/20090531113119/http://collaboratory.nunet.net/timber/scifair/sixthb/3.htm#bi
b
Safety Considerations:
Make sure students understand how hard it is to clean oil and to avoid it getting on papers, projects, clothes,
or desks. The students may want to wear gloves to keep the oil off of their skin.

STEM ACTIVITY
Engage and Pre-assessment
Tell the class: We will be dealing with Oil Spills today. Has anyone heard of oil spills in the
news? Let students respond with what knowledge they have with oil spills. Ask the students: How
hard do you think it is to remove oil from water? Allow students to respond and ask them why they
think it will either be hard or easy. Remind students about how oil floats on water. Remind students
that water is a natural resource. Have students turn and talk about ways we use water as a natural
resource. Have them then turn and talk to their neighbors about some of the negative effects oil spills
might have on the environment.
As discussion occurs, walk around the room and take account of any misconceptions any of the
students have. If some groups are having trouble formulating a conversation, give them questions to
think about like: are there animals who need the water on the surface? How might oil spills affect
the animals? Would the oil affect any of the land by the water such as beaches?
Explore:
Challenge: Present the students with the challenge create a device that will remove as much oil
from the water as possible.
Constraints:

The size of the water container cannot be modified (though the device can work
to contain the oil in one part of the container)
The device has to work on its own,
The amount of oil that goes in the water is the same for all students and measured
before and after.

Build It: Allow students to work within their science groups of 4 to create a design for their oil
removing device. Once the groups decide on their plan, the students will bring their design to the
teacher so they can acquire the proper supplies. They will then build their first model.

The students will then test their designs and record the amount of oil their device was able to
remove from their water. The class will group back together and each group will present their
design and results of their investigation. The students will record in their science notebooks any
adjustments they might be able to make in order to better their design.
Explain:
Science Teaching Points:
Natural Resources are vital to our way of life.
We use water for our health and well being
Water is also the habitat of so many animals and is vital for these animals lives
Oil spills have a negative effect on this essential natural resource (to make this point you
can show this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Uax5FRWnvs
Discuss the complications of real-world oil spills and the complexities it can bring (the
vast spread of the oil, the difficulty of containing the oil, and the hardships of trying to
remove the devices once the oil has been acquired)
Elaborate:
Present the students with the following scenario
SCENARIO: You are beachside where BP has recently spilled a whole truckload of oil into the
ocean. The oil is slowly spreading across the ocean. With your other engineers, you must try and
create a boom that will contain and collect as much oil from the spill as possible.
CHALLENGE: Design a boom that not only collects the oil from the water but also contains it.
CONSTRAINTS:
The size of the water container cannot be modified (though the device can work
to contain the oil in one part of the container)
The device has to work on its own,
The amount of oil that goes in the water is the same for all students and measured
before and after.
The Design Process:
ASK
What is the problem?
Theres an oil spill that needs to be cleaned to protect the natural resource.
What have others done?
Students can research what other engineers and scientists have done in the world to collect oil
from oil spills.
What are the constraints?
The size of the container, you cant use your body as part of the device, and the amount of oil is
fixed.
IMAGINE
What are some solutions?
Students will use the knowledge they gained and work within their groups to write what possible
ways they can solve the issue of the oil spill.
Brainstorm ideas.
Students will come up with their own ideas and draw possible devices.
Choose the best one.
PLAN
Draw a diagram.
Students will draw the device they picked to pursue.
Make lists of materials you will need.

CREATE
Follow your plan and create it.
The groups will use their diagram and material list to create their engineering design.
Test it out!
IMPROVE
Talk about what works, what doesn't, and what could work better.
Modify your design to make it better.
Test it out!
Real-World Connections: Have students think of other ways they think oil spills could be cleaned.
Have them do some research and see if there are any other techniques people have tried to use to
remove oil from the oceans. Allow the students to stretch their imagination in thinking of creative
creations that could be created to remove oil having the knowledge we have gained from this
experiment. Oil spills have had severe negative impacts on the environment in many different ways.
You can have students research oil spills that have occurred in the real world and research the ways in
which it impacted the environment.

Post-assessment The students will be assessed throughout the lesson by the teacher roaming the
room and interacting with the groups of engineers.
The class will group together after their engineering investigations to present their best designs
and explain what made it more or less productive.
The students will be assessed by The Design Process they complete as part of the engineering
process. Each student must complete this worksheet and the rubric is provided within the lesson plan.
Students will also complete the Oily Aftermath worksheet that will look at the cumulative
information they have accumulated throughout the engineering/learning process.

The Design Process

Name: ______________________
ASK:
What is the Problem? ___________________________________________
What have others done?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
What are the constraints?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

IMAGINE:
What are some solutions?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Brainstorm Ideas
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Choose the best one
__________________________________________________________________

PLAN:
Draw a diagram

Make a list of materials you will need:

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

CREATE:
Follow your plan and create it!
Test it out!

IMPROVE:
What worked?
__________________________________________________________________
What didnt?
__________________________________________________________________
What would make it better?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Modify your design and make it better. Test it out!

Oily Aftermath
Name: ___________________________
1. Why is water an important Natural Resource?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

2. Were you able to remove all of the oil? Why was it so difficult to
remove?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. What are some of the negative impacts that oil spills can have on the
environment?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. Why is it important that the device you created floats on the water?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
5. How would you make your device work in the real world?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
6. What do you find the most challenging part of removing oil from water?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
7. Do you think your device would work in the real world? Why or why
not?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
8. What was your favorite part about the engineering process?