Oil cleanup on the beach
Photo Credit: NOAA
The tragic explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that occurred on April 20, 2010, sent 185 million gallons (five million barrels) of oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico over the course of the next 86 days. A year later, cleanup efforts in Gulf communities continue, and the effect on marine and marshland wildlife and ecosystems remain uncertain. While the environmental and economic fallout from this spill will take years to tally completely, its ultimate impact still depend on a long list of interlinked variables, including the weather, ocean currents, the properties of the oil involved, microbes in the ocean, and the mixed success of efforts to stanch the flow and remediate its effects.
Science NetLinks offers the following educational materials that you may find useful for incorporating this environmental tragedy into your classroom.
Filter Resources by Grade:
Lessons
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9-12
This lesson focuses on examining the role of technology in managing societal risks and benefits of obtaining a highly valued—and politically charged—asset: oil deposits buried deep below the ocean floor.
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K-2 | Website
In this lesson, students practice balancing different interests involved in solving social problems, looking for the most realistic solution.
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3-5 | Hands-On
This lesson introduces students to the amazing variety of life around them.
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6-8
In this interdisciplinary lesson, students explore the concept of ecosystem services by investigating natural water purification in their home watershed.
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6-8 | Hands-On
This lesson helps students obtain a better perception of earth's oceans and to understand earth's water cycle.
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6-8 | Interactive
This lesson demonstrates how much our society depends on petroleum products and shows how advances in technology have allowed us to find, obtain, and transport oil more efficiently.
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9-12
In this lesson, students explore how a nuclear accident can affect biological systems.
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9-12 | Video
This lesson helps students develop an understanding of the characteristics and diversity of microbial life.
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9-12 | Website
This lesson provides students with an opportunity to further their understanding of the risks and benefits associated with innovations in science and technology.
Tools
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3-8 | Interactive
This resource is part of a larger site on The Coral Reef Adventure, a film that follows the real-life adventures of ocean explorers and underwater filmmakers, Howard and Michele Hall. It has several different activities that you can do.
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6-12 | Interactive
This resource will help you learn about waves and their behaviors.
Science Updates
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6-12 | Audio
Learn about a thirty-year plan to replace 70 percent of our fossil fuels, using only current technologies like storable solar power, safer nuclear plants, and methanol from crop waste.
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6-12 | Audio
This Science Update looks at the unexpected impact marine reserves have on their surroundings.
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6-12 | Audio
Hear about how certain small fish are managing to survive in highly toxic waters.
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6-12 | Audio
How are animals coping five years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?
Videos
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6-12 | Video
John P. Holdren at the May 13, 2010 AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy discusses why scientists can't determine more precisely how much oil is gushing from the Deepwater Horizon rig.
AAAS Resources
The Science of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Grade Band: 6-12
Description: John P. Holdren, the President's Science Advisor and Director of the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy, fielded a question at the May 13 AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy on why scientists can't determine more precisely how much oil is gushing from the Deepwater Horizon rig.
Grade Band: 9-12
Description: This resource page from AAAS's Science magazine provides you and your students current news stories about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Other Resources
Oil Spill Experiment
Grade Band: 3-12
Description: This hands-on activity offers a glimpse into the perils of oil spills.
Tracking the Oil Spill
Grade Band: 3-12
Description: This interactive map from The New York Times reflects daily estimates by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the extent of the oil slick on that day. It represents only oil on the surface and does not account for any oil that may be below.
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