If you don't laugh, you'll cry.

If you don't laugh, you'll cry.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Oil Spill Lab for Middle Schoolers

I did this lab for my students last year and they loved it. Coincidentally, I did the lab 2 weeks before the big oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico occurred. Ironically, that actually helped my students a lot, because we were able to have an in depth discussion about the best clean up methods. During this lab, they learned that although the detergent cleaned up the oil the best, it made their water soapy and "killed" their animals. My students couldn't believe that people were using chemical dispersants in real life.

The saddest part was when one girl raised her hand and asked "If they knew this kind of thing could happen, why didn't they have a plan? Why didn't they do this lab first?"

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