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This photo shows a pair of sea otters, whose fur are covered in oil. Such may affect their ability to regulate their own temperature or travel.

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This photo shows a pelican. Pelicans dive for fish in the water and when they dive into oil it clings to their feathers.

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This photo shows the ocean from a birds eye perspective on what an oil spills looks like in an ocean.

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The graphic below will help us put the amount of oil spilled a year into perspective.

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6. A link to an item found on the science subject-specific page, located within the Finding Teaching Materials by Subject/Format tab of the Lesson Planning Guide with a brief description of the content of the page or item (see info from a canvas announcement earlier this semester)

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6. A link to an item found on the science subject-specific page, located within the Finding Teaching Materials by Subject/Format tab of the Lesson Planning Guide with a brief description of the content of the page or item (see info from a canvas announcement earlier this semester)

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This article found on The Exploratorium website describes what has happened to the oil over the past years since the Horizon oil spill. There is a chart that shows how the oil was taken out of the water. While reading this article you must remember that the data is estimated.

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Now that the Deep Horizon oil well has been capped and crude oil is no longer gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, NOAA and the ocean science community have been working to assess the damage. In particular, there's a question about where all that crude has gone now that most of the oil slicks on the surface have disappeared.

NOAA issued what some scientists characterize as an over-optimistic report that most of the 4.9 million gallons of oil have been burned, skimmed, recovered from the wellhead or dispersed and is in the process of being degraded or consumed by oil-eating microbes. In the peer-reviewed report, issued in early August, the administration estimates that only 25% of the original spill remains in gulf waters. In some of their earlier reports on flow rate, NOAA was criticized for not "showing their math," in this report they showed how the calculations were made. Here's what they say happened to the oil:

A couple of days ago, scientists from the University of Georgia issued their own report estimating that only 10-30% of the oil was recovered or degraded and that 70-90% of the original spill remains a threat to the ecosystem. They make the point that dispersed oil (i.e. oil that has been dissolved or broken up into droplets) is still in the gulf and could harm the environment for years to come. Their report consists mostly of analysis of the governments estimates, pointing out the uncertainties and providing their own more pessimistic estimates of how much (or little, as the case may be) oil has evaporated, been consumed by microbes, and collected in marshes. They also point out the need for more sampling programs and increased monitoring of the Gulf waters, which NOAA has also announced they will implement.

So, who's right? The Wall Street Journal favors the Georgia scientists, the New York Times green blog credits the NOAA study as peer reviewed and more credible. But this is a rapidly evolving situation and an article in today's New York Times reports the discovery by Woods Hole scientists in June of a large plume of oil that doesn't appear to be degrading rapidly. We probably won't know for awhile what the true impact will be and it could be that both groups are "wrong" (i.e. their initial estimates are different from later analysis) and that the remaining oil in the gulf is somewhere in the middle of these two estimates. Like it or not, that is the nature of science, not to always pinpoint the definitive truth, but to give their best estimates based on available evidence and to continue monitoring and sampling to refine and sometimes correct initial observations and findings.

Given that people's livelihoods and the Gulf ecosystems are at risk, it was important for NOAA to not wait until scientific consensus was reached before issuing their report and I would frankly be more worried about the estimates if there was no scientific debate about them. It is the nature of science to be a self-correcting enterprise and the nature of scientists to be skeptical, question the evidence and continue to seek answers. Because the Gulf is such a complex system, because a deep-water spill of this magnitude is extremely rare and therefore not well studied, lots of scientists will remain engaged with these questions for years to come. Their continued efforts should help society understand the environmental impacts of oil spills, decide what risks are acceptable and which are not, and whether deep-water drilling activities should continue and, if so, how they should be regulated.

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Gulf Spill: Where did all the Oil Go? | Exploratorium

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Now that the Deep Horizon oil well has been capped and crude oil is no longer gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, NOAA and the ocean science community have been working to assess the damage. In particular, there's a question about where all that crude has gone now that most of the oil slicks on the surface have disappeared.

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4. A math resource you can use as grade level documentation in your Integrated Lesson Plan -- include a photo and write a brief description

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4. A math resource you can use as grade level documentation in your Integrated Lesson Plan -- include a photo and write a brief description

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The book, Connect to NCTM Standards 2000, is an independent publication created to help educators create lesson plans consistent with the standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. We would utilize this book to guide the specific math portion of our activity, which would include measurement.

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1. The names of each group member and the topic of your lesson plan

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1. The names of each group member and the topic of your lesson plan

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Group Members:
Allyson Burzynski
Elize Oliverio
Sydney McCarthy

Topic of Lesson:
Oil Spills

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2. a picture book -- upload a photo and write a brief description

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2. a picture book -- upload a photo and write a brief description

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Oil Spills, by Christine Caputo, goes into the depths of an oil spill and how they damage our environment. Throughout this book, students will learn how oil spills happen, their effects, and how we can ultimately clean up these spills that do so much damage to our environment!

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3. A non-book science curriculum tool (e.g. DVD, microscope, model of a the solar system) -- upload a photo and write a brief description

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3. A non-book science curriculum tool (e.g. DVD, microscope, model of a the solar system) -- upload a photo and write a brief description

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This video, which is narrated by students, incorporates information on how oil spills affect the oceans as well as those those that inhabit it: pelicans, ducks, and fish. In addition to this, the video goes into how oil spills are not only affecting the animals, but the lifestyles of some people that depend on the ocean.

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7.  At least four images you will use in your lesson plan to support your instruction.

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7.  At least four images you will use in your lesson plan to support your instruction.

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5. A link to a resource on the media tab of Michelle's Lesson Planning Guide with a brief description of the video (see info from a canvas announcement earlier this semester)

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5. A link to a resource on the media tab of Michelle's Lesson Planning Guide with a brief description of the video (see info from a canvas announcement earlier this semester)

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The video and accompanying resources listed below gives context to oil spills and their affects on the environment. Depending on the area in which they live, students may not be familiar with the ocean or the wildlife which depend upon it. The video shows several images of oil spills, how the water is affected, and how many birds are affected by the environmental disaster.

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Messing About

Good projects revolve around important questions. However, good questions are not always easy to generate...especially in a vacuum. How many times have students drawn a blank when confronted with the "freedom" to study anything they want for a school project? Often, it is helpful to have students "mess about" with information before you ask them to brainstorm questions.

(Yes, I know that middle school students have their own definition for messing about.)

Many of the resources below can provide a great starting point for short and long term projects.

Infographics

The old saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words," has a lot of merit. A good picture can often tell a story, provoke emotions, or generate questions. The use of images and visual representations is critically important in science. Visual representations can also quickly convey very complicated information. We are constantly bombarded by infographics that describe scientific information. How often do we ask our students to analyze or create an infographic?

What could our students do with these complicated infographics?

Other Oil Spill Resources

How Big is the Oil Spill? The current estimate is 35,000 to 60,000 barrels per day (1 barrel = 42 gallons).

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Project-Based Learning and the Gulf Oil Spill

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Good projects revolve around important questions. However, good questions are not always easy to generate...especially in a vacuum. How many times have students drawn a blank when confronted with the "freedom" to study anything they want for a school project? Often, it is helpful to have students "mess about" with information before you ask them to brainstorm questions.