Oil Spill

Oil from ships and tankers can sometimes spill into the sea, causing pollution. This can harm the creatures that live in or around the sea. For example, when a bird’s feathers get covered in oil it can’t fly.

To model an oil spill the first thing that we are going to do is pour some water into our dish or container. We are going to pour some oil in to the container. You will see that the oils sits on the surface of the water as it has a different density

There are three main ways that you can try and deal with an oil spill. The first way is to try and contain it by constructing a physical barrier. To demonstrate this you can try and contain your oil into part of your container using things like lolly sticks, straws, pipe cleaners or other items that you have available

The second way is to try and remove the oil. As the oil has a different density it sits on top of the water and this means that you may be able to remove the oil without removing the water. You may like to try using a spoon or even something like cotton wool to see if you can remove the oil.

The third way to remove the oil is to use chemicals to try and break it down. So we can add washing up liquid or liquid soap to our oil spill model. When you add the soap to the oil and water the soap breaks the oil into small droplets so that it can be rinsed away. This is because it has a special structure, one end that loves water and one end that is repelled by the water molecules

The video tutorial for this activity is available on the Surrey Libraries Facebook Page