Earth Science Weekly
Mrs. Wilkinson
Week of May 9-15
Monday: Renewable Energy Resources
Tuesday: Renewable Energy Resources/Solar Oven Design
Wednesday: Solar Oven Construction*/Guest Speaker
Thursday: Structure and Composition of the Earth/Earth's Crust
Friday: Conduction, Convection & Radiation/Movement of Earth's Plates
*The solar oven construction may spill into additional days.
Cleaning Up an Oil Spill [On-Level]
In the on-level classes, students were given instructions for how to clean-up an oil spill, but were given a very strict budget for obtaining clean-up materials. They were forced to decide whether they had the money to clean up all of the oil using the best tools or to instead clean up the "animals" (a feather for a pelican and a fuzzy piece of material representing a seal) at a higher expense. All groups found themselves in debt and unable to completely clean up the oil in their water and shore line or their animals!
*I apologize for the lack of pictures! I found myself cutting out a lot of little "seals" and did not having the time to take any pictures!
Oil Spill Lab
Removing the Oil
Designing the Lab Procedure
Creating the Spill
Cleaning Up an Oil Spill [Honors]
At first, most groups were confident in their ability to completely rid their "ocean" of oil, but after about 10 minutes of frustrating and messy removal, many groups realized that the task of removing every drop of oil from either the water or wildlife is virtually impossible. Even after 10 washings with Dawn, a little "seal" still had a greasy residue in its fur.
To introduce the students to writing lab reports, I then asked them to create a group summary of their project. As expected, the first drafts were a bit rough. Most students "failed" the assignment, but were sent home on Friday with the corrections that needed to be made and the opportunity to make those changes. The only grade that will appear in Sapphire will be the revised version of their report.
How Much Do You Consume?
If you go HERE, you can calculate your family's ecological footprint. You may be surprised at the results!