Water Planet Challenge

What's the Connection to Me? - Middle School

Introduction

Students are surely aware of the significant impact the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill has had on the people and environment near the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, students are no doubt aware of the use of petroleum to fuel transportation needs and heat our homes but they may not be very aware of how dependent we are on petroleum for common everyday products ranging from clothes to cosmetics, cleaners to candy. This lesson explores some of the different forms petroleum takes on as a component or ingredient in various manufactured products, some of the human health and environmental concerns associated with the use and disposal of these particular products, and ways to minimize the harmful effects of petroleum and petroleum-derived products on the environment.

Objectives

1. Identify consumer products derived from petroleum.
2. Identify petroleum-derived components and/or ingredients, i.e., chemical substances, used to make a variety of common consumer products.
3. Describe some detrimental environmental effects that are associated with the production, transportation, use, and disposal of these petroleum-derived products.
4. Describe ways to minimize the harmful effects of petroleum and petroleum-derived products on the environment.
5. Explain a feasible connection between the Gulf oil spill and individual consumer choices.

Materials

• Computer with Internet access
• Library and/or classroom resources
• Science journal
• List of “Common Consumer Products” found at end of lesson
• Subset of items on the “Common Consumer Products” list (optional)

Time: 1 class period each for “Engage,” Explore,” and “Explain.”

Vocabulary

Conservation
Climate change
Fossil fuel
Hydrocarbons
Oil
Petroleum
Plastics
Recycle
Transportation

Background for Teacher

Petroleum, or crude oil, is a naturally occurring flammable liquid made up of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons and other organic compounds. It is most often found deep underground and is recovered by drilling expensive wells. Petroleum is considered a fossil fuel, along with coal and natural gas. Petroleum was formed from the remains of organic material that lived millions of years ago. As ancient plants and animals died and were covered by layers of sand and silt in a marine environment, heat from the earth and pressure from the many layers transformed this organic matter into crude oil.

About one third of crude oil produced by the U.S. comes from wells in the Gulf of Mexico. As demonstrated by the recent Gulf oil spill, however, extracting this petroleum, especially from under water, possess significant risks to human lives and the environment. Additional risks are incurred with the refinement, transport, and storage of petroleum. On land, the practice of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” involves injecting millions of gallons of water and chemicals into the ground to displace natural gas. This process also impacts water resources through the pollution of water wells.

Most of the petroleum brought to the surface is used for transporting goods and people all over the Earth. Some of it is used to heat homes and generate electricity. Petroleum also provides us with a large range of personal products that we’ve integrated into our daily lives. Such products include CDs, detergents, heart valves, plastic water bottles, pharmaceuticals, and plastic shopping bags. Even though such products consume a small fraction of the petroleum extracted from the ground, they are nonetheless vital to our present way of living; but some of them can have a detrimental impact on the environment if not used and disposed of properly.

When petroleum, along with other fossil fuels, is burned it produces the gas carbon dioxide, CO2, which contributes to climate change and ocean acidification. There are a number of nation-wide efforts aimed at reducing our use of fossil fuels with the goal of mitigating climate change.

Engage

1. Ask students what they know about petroleum. What is it? Where does it come from? What can you do with it? (Optional activity: have students, either individually or in pairs, create a mind map [a related graphical diagram is called a concept map] with ‘Petroleum’ as the central topic.)
2. As the discussion progresses, ask if any students have any items on them or in their backpacks that might be made from petroleum. List their suggested items on the board or chart paper.
3. Distribute the list of “Common Consumer Products” that appears at the end of this lesson. As students look over the list, see if they spot any items (or similar items) that they had suggested they had on themselves or in their backpacks.
4. In pairs or small groups, ask students to discuss the items on this list and circle all they believe might contain petroleum-derived components or ingredients, and to then calculate the percentage of items on the list they believe to be derived from petroleum.
5. Discuss as a class. What percentage of items on the list does each group believe to be derived from petroleum? Discuss individual items. Is there a consensus on any items; i.e. unanimous agreement that the product does or does not contain a petroleum-derived component? At some point, tell students that 100% of the items on the list are made with components/ingredients derived from petroleum.
6. End this Engage section by asking students to briefly summarize what they know about petroleum and how people use it. Make note of student conceptions, correct and incorrect, in order to tailor this lesson to your students. If you had students create mind maps, they could display these as a way of sharing and summarizing.

Explore

1. Assign students to work in groups of two to four for the following activity. Divide the items on the list among the groups. Using the Internet along with classroom and library resources, each group is responsible for researching what component(s) and/or ingredient(s) in their items are derived from petroleum and summarizing the specific human health and environmental concerns (if any) associated with those components/ingredients. Remind students to take notes in their science journals and to consider the creation, transportation, use, and disposal of the selected item. Assist groups as needed.

Explain
1. Gather students together to share and discuss their findings. Make a summary chart on the board or chart paper of the petroleum-derived components or ingredients they discovered in or associated with each of their particular items. Which components or ingredients are the most prevalent? Which are generally considered to be safe? Which are associated with human health or environmental concerns? To what degree does a particular component or ingredient impact the environment? How is climate change connected with petroleum use? How can recycling help reduce the detrimental impact of petroleum-derived products? (With some of these prompts, you might want to take time to help students understand the science behind the issue. For example, are your students able to connect a given environmental problem to particular petroleum product? The resources listed at the end of this lesson can provide you with more detailed and specific information.) Keep in mind your students’ initial conceptions about petroleum and its use by humans and compare those early conceptions with those that emerge now that they have looked in depth at the human health and environmental impact of creating and using petroleum-derived products.
2. As part of this post-research discussion, be sure to encourage students to consider ways humans can reduce or minimize the negative effects they have discovered petroleum-derived products can have on human health and the environment. Be sure students can make a personal connection between consuming these products and their petroleum-based origins. Make certain to reference the Gulf oil spill in this discussion and check for student understanding of their connection(s) to the spill and the larger issue of our petroleum-dependent economy.

Extend

1. Divide the class into six groups and assign each group to read one of the following sections from the “Oil (petroleum)” article on the energy Kids Web site provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
a. Oil (petroleum) Basics
b. Getting (Producing) Oil
c. Offshore Drilling
d. What Fuels Are Made from Crude Oil?
e. Refining Process
f. Oil & the Environment
Students will need access to the Internet and should produce a summary of their assigned section that they can then share with the rest of the class.

2. Assign students to read and take notes from this article Prioritizing Plastics Key to Kicking Oil Addiction - Plus Reducing Waste & Pollution on the Internet from Treehugger.com. (There is a link in the first sentence of this article that leads to another Treehugger.com article entitled “Want to Kick Our Oil Addiction? Let’s Get Out Priorities Straight First” that would also be appropriate reading for this topic.)

3. Treehugger.com has an extensive list of continuously updated posts (articles) relating to the Gulf oil spill. One way to incorporate some of this material into this lesson would be to assign a group of students to read and summarize a particular post then have them share their summary with the rest of the class.

Evaluation

1. You and your friends are spending the afternoon at the local mall having fun window-shopping. Name some items you might see in the windows that probably are made from petroleum or contain some part that comes from petroleum.
2. Name two items you see at the mall and describe at least one petroleum-derived ingredient found in each item.
3. Your friend spots a piece of fruit and wants to buy it. You happen to notice that in a bin nearby is the same kind of fruit for the same price. The fruit your friend wants to by has been shipped to the mall from across the country whereas the fruit you spotted was grown locally. What would you say to your friend to convince her to buy the fruit grown locally?
4. As you and your friends sit in the food court, you notice that there are no recycling receptacles, only trash receptacles. Being a person who cares about the environment, what could you say or do before you leave the food court?
5. Draw a possible connection between personal consumer items you might buy at the mall and the Gulf oil spill.

Students who have successfully mastered the objectives of this lesson will be able to provide responses to the evaluation questions similar to the following.

1. I might spot a football helmet, CD in a jewel case, pair of pants, and a pair of sunglasses. All these things were made using petroleum in some way.
2. The lip balm at the drug store was made using a petroleum jelly base and the nylon scarf I almost bought is made from petroleum.
3. I would remind my friend that his piece of fruit probably was flown to this store from across the country (or another country) in an airplane, and that this long airplane trip uses much fuel, which is derived from petroleum. My piece of fruit that was grown locally took much less fuel to get to the mall than his did. Using less fuel means using less petroleum.
4. One thing I could do is to talk to the manager of the food court and suggest that they add a recycling receptacle so that people could throw their recyclable items there to be recycled. This way, less plastic ware would end up in the trash and then the landfill. The problem is that plastics don’t easily decompose or break down, if they ever do. Another thing I could do is to take my empty plastic soda bottle and other recyclable items home in my backpack and recycle them at home.
5. One way I’m connected to the Gulf oil spill when I buy things at the mall is by the fact that everything I buy there probably was transported by truck. The truck uses diesel fuel or gasoline and that comes from petroleum. Also, as we discussed, so many products at the mall contain petroleum-based ingredients. Petroleum is the very stuff that is being pumped from the Gulf of Mexico. Getting this petroleum from deep under the water is complicated and sometimes things can go wrong as it did with the Gulf oil spill. This is why it is important to make changes in our lives that reduce our dependency on petroleum and petroleum-based products.

Standards

National Science Education Standards (NSES) (Grades 5 – 8)

Science as Inquiry: Content Standard A
• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
• Understanding about scientific inquiry

Physical Science: Content Standard B
• Properties and changes of properties in matter
• Transfer of energy

Life Science: Content Standard C
• Structure and function in living systems
• Regulation and behavior
• Populations and ecosystems
• Diversity and adaptations of organisms

Earth and Space Science: Content Standard D
• Structure of the earth system
• Earth’s history
• Earth in the solar system

Science and Technology: Content Standard E
• Abilities of technological design
• Understanding about science and technology

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: Content Standard F
• Personal health
• Populations, resources, and environments
• Natural hazards
• Risks and benefits
• Science and technology society

History and Nature of Science: Content Standard G
• Science as a human endeavor

Additional Resources

• http://planetgreen.discovery.com/work-connect/5-human-habits-highly-harmful-to-the-ocean.html
• http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/50-surprising-fashion-and-beauty-products-made-from-oil.php
• http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/20100628_GreenSpace__GreenSpace__How_oil_has_seeped_deep_into_our_lives.html
• http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/fracking-finally-getting-attention.php
• http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=oil_home-basics#top-container
• http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/oil-refining.htm
• http://www.priweb.org/ed/pgws/index.html
• http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/How-Plastics-Made.htm

Common Consumer Products

Circle all items on this list that you believe might contain petroleum or be derived from petroleum.
1. Sandals and flip flops
2. Computers
3. Ball point pens
4. Cameras
5. Footballs
6. Bath soap
7. Pepto-Bismol
8. Aspirin
9. Band-aids
10. Cough syrup
11. Egg cartons
12. Jars
13. Utensils
14. Fabric softener
15. Sponges
16. Styrofoam
17. Cologne and perfume
18. Lipstick
19. Contact lenses
20. Shampoo
21. Sunglasses
22. Bubble bath
23. Curtains
24. Rugs
25. Water pipes
26. Toilet seats
27. CDs and DVDs
28. Bubble gum
29. Credit cards
30. Mouthwash
31. White vinegar
32. Vaseline
33. Rubbing alcohol
34. Mosquito spray
35. Q-tips
36. Umbrellas