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How do you clean up an oil spill?

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Have you ever seen someone pour olive oil in a pot of water before cooking pasta, or bath oil into a tub before taking a long soak? If so, you may have noticed that the oil seems to float on the water. It doesn't mix in with the water; it stays separate. What would you do if you were asked to take the oil out of the water? Could you do it?

You'll probably never need to take cooking oil out of a pot of water. But removing oil from water is a real-life problem! It happens like this. We all use oil for many things, from gasoline for our cars, to making plastic toys. Oil is usually found deep under the Earth. Large machines drill far down and the oil. Oil isn't found everywhere-only in certain places. Therefore, oil may have to be moved long distances before we can use it.

Sometimes oil is transported on oil tankers, large ships that can carry huge amounts of oil across the ocean. Other times, oil might flow through a pipeline from one place to another, in a similar way that water flows through pipes to our homes. Either way, leaks can happen. Oil tankers may or run aground; pipelines may break. When this happens, oil can leak out of its container. This is called an oil spill.

Oil spills can happen on land or in water. Some of the most destructive oil spills have happened in water. This makes sense, because spills on water are more difficult to clean up! Oil can be very harmful to animals that live in or near the water.

Oil can harm animals in several different ways. For animals with fur, like sea otters, the oil makes their fur less insulating . They can then become too cold. The same can happen with birds. The oil makes their feathers less water , so they can either get too hot or too cold. If birds or other animals swallow oil, it can make them sick. Fish and shellfish can get sick from the oil, too. When oily fish or shellfish get eaten by other animals, it can make the other animals sick as well. Fish that have been around oil are not safe for humans to eat, either.

When an oil spill happens, many people work together to try to clean it up as best as they can. Let's think back to our olive oil in a pot of water. If you accidentally poured too much oil into the pot, how could you get it out? There are several ways that can work. One way is by using a physical to prevent the oil from getting onto certain places. This is called a boom. A boom can sometimes keep oil contained. It can also be used to protect important places, like bird or sea turtle nesting grounds, from oil.

Another is skimming, or scooping, oil from the water. There are some different devices that do this work. Unfortunately, this does not always work. It depends on how much oil is in the water and how thick the layer of oil is.

These first two methods are the safest for people and animals near the oil spill. But when they do not work, we use other ways to help clean the oil. One is to burn off some of the oil. When there is a lot of oil floating right on top of the water, we can burn it while it's still floating on the water. Another way is to use that work like soap. These turn the oil into many much smaller pieces. You have seen this work when we use soap to clean greasy dishes!

No one wants oil spills to happen. But when they do, scientists are able to learn from their efforts to clean up oil. They are always working to find new ways to clean up oil spills. Some are now using to find and absorb oil. Others are using sponges to soak up large amounts of oil.

Even with all of these new ideas, we do not yet have a way to clean oil spills completely. What do you think? Do YOU have an idea that could help?

CCRA.R.1, CCRA.R.2, CCRA.R.6, CCRA.R.7, CCRA.R.8, CCRA.R.9, CCRA.R.10, CCRA.L.1, CCRA.L.3, CCRA.L.4, CCRA.L.5, CCRA.L.6, CCRA.W.1, CCRA.W.4, ETS1.A, ETS1.B, ESS3.B, ESS3.C

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Have you ever seen someone pour olive oil in a pot of water before cooking pasta, or bath oil into a tub before taking a long soak? If so, you may have noticed that the oil seems to float on the water. It doesn't mix in with the water; it stays separate.

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Where did Earth’s water come from?

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Splash! There's nothing like playing in the water on a hot summer day. And what could be better than a cool drink of water after working or playing? In fact, we use water in many, many ways to make our lives better. Life would be a lot harder if we didn't have water to help us keep our clothes and bodies clean. And, of course, we couldn't live at all if we didn't have water to drink! It's easy to forget how lucky we are to have access to water. But have you ever WONDERed, where did all of our water come from? Is Earth the only planet with so much water?

To find out where water came from, we have to think about what water is made of. You may already know that everything in our world is made from tiny building blocks. These tiny blocks are called . When join together, they make up . Water is made of a molecule called dihydrogen oxide. That means it has two hydrogen and one oxygen atom. You may have heard the short version of the name-H2O.

So, when we're WONDERing about where water came from, we have to first think about where hydrogen and oxygen came from. To figure that out, we need to go all the way back to the beginnings of our universe! Hydrogen has been around since nearly the start of the universe. It is the simplest of the . Oxygen did not exist until much later-hundreds of millions of years later!

Inside the first stars, it was so hot that hydrogen began to form other . Those included oxygen. Then, after a long time, these stars died and exploded. These explosions spread new around the universe. In turn, these joined to form new substances. H2O, or water, was one of these. Water were present from the beginnings of our solar system.

There were also water inside the Earth as it formed. But does that account for the water that we see on Earth today? Scientists are not completely sure! There are several possible sources of water. Scientists that both of these explanations may be partially true. The first is that water that are deep inside the Earth slowly come to the surface over many years. In other words, the water that covers much of the Earth has been a part of the planet since the beginning!

Another theory is that water came to Earth from other parts of . In the early years of our solar system, many and crashed on the Earth. These brought more water to our planet. It is most likely that water deep in the Earth, along with water from and , combined to give Earth so much water. We have so much water, in fact, that over 70% of the Earth's surface is covered with it!

You may be WONDERing, what about other planets. The Earth is not the only planet with plenty of H2O. In fact, we know that Neptune and Uranus both have a lot of water. The Earth is special because of our temperature. If we were closer to the sun, and our planet was much hotter, our water might all . If we were farther away from the sun, our planet would be much colder. Our water might into ice, as it has on Neptune and Uranus. The Earth has a mix of warm and cold temperatures, so that some of our water is gas, some liquid, and some frozen.

The origins of water are amazing to think about! What do you think scientists will discover next about our universe?

CCRA.R.1, CCRA.R.2, CCRA.R.3, CCRA.R.4, CCRA.R.10, CCRA.L.3, CCRA.L.4, CCRA.L.5, CCRA.L.6, CCRA.W.4, CCRA.W.7, CCRA.W.8, CCRA.SL.5,NGSS.PS1.A, NGSS.ESS2.C, NGSS.ESS1.A, NGSS.ESS1.B, NCAS.CR.1, NCAS.CR.2

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WATER you doing? It's time for a new Wonder!

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What is the most harmful things left in space?

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Why you procrastinate even when it feels bad

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Why do people procrastinate when they know they should get it done?

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Why you procrastinate even when it feels bad

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The report you've been putting off is due tomorrow. It's time to buckle down, open your computer ... and check your phone. Maybe watch your favorite YouTube channel? Or maybe you should just start in the morning? This is the cycle of procrastination. So, why do we procrastinate when we know it's bad for us?

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Food waste causes climate change. Here's how we stop it

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Does food waste cause climate change?

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Let's Begin...

Food waste both in America and across the world is a massive problem for climate change, the environment, and hunger. By addressing food waste in farms, grocery stores, and at home, we could potentially feed billions of people and curb the massive emissions generated to make food and from the food waste that ends up in the landfill. Food waste is the world's dumbest problem - let's solve it.

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Food waste causes climate change. Here's how we stop it

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Food waste both in America and across the world is a massive problem for climate change, the environment, and hunger. By addressing food waste in farms, grocery stores, and at home, we could potentially feed billions of people and curb the massive emissions generated to make food and from the food waste that ends up in the landfill.

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Why don’t perfect grades matter?

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Let's Begin...

Most American students strive for a 4.0 GPA and the highest test scores, but research shows that this quest for perfection actually discourages creativity and reduces academic risk-taking. In this episode of "School Myths" by The Atlantic, Alice Roth investigates why grades aren't everything when it comes to education.

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About TED-Ed Best of Web

TED-Ed Best of Web are exceptional, user-created lessons that are carefully selected by volunteer teachers and TED-Ed staff.

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Most American students strive for a 4.0 GPA and the highest test scores, but research shows that this quest for perfection actually discourages creativity and reduces academic risk-taking. In this episode of "School Myths" by The Atlantic, Alice Roth investigates why grades aren't everything when it comes to education.

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Why is garbage bad for the environment?

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Procrastination
Food Waste
Tetris