http://www.teachengineering.com/view_activity.php?url=http://www.teachengineering.org/collection/cub_/activities/cub_enveng/cub_enveng_lesson01_activity1.xml
Sharon D. Perez-Suarez, Melissa Straten, Malinda Schaefer Zarske, Janet Yowell, TeachEngineering of Integrated Teaching and Learning Program, CU Boulder
Activity takes two 45-minute classroom periods.
Learn more about Teaching Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness»
See how this Activity
supports the Next Generation Science Standards»Middle School: 1 Performance Expectation, 3 Disciplinary Core Ideas, 3 Cross Cutting Concepts, 9 Science and Engineering Practices
Topics
Grade Level
Could be modified to be used with high school students.
Energy Literacy
7.3 Environmental quality 
7.3 Environmental quality7.3 Environmental quality.
5.3 Systems-based approach.
Excellence in Environmental Education Guidelines
Other materials addressing:
B) Designing investigations.
Other materials addressing:
C) Collecting information.
Other materials addressing:
B) Recognizing citizens' rightrs and responsiblities.
Other materials addressing:
C) Political and economic systems.
Other materials addressing:
A) Human/environment interactions.
Other materials addressing:
D) Technology.
Other materials addressing:
E) Environmental Issues.
Notes From Our Reviewers
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Teaching Tips | Science | Pedagogy |
Technical Details
Teaching Tips
- Educator needs to introduce the physics behind oil spills in more depth (e.g. properties of oil) to ensure student learning.
- Great extension activities that support different aspects of the activity and allow greater depth (e.g. bird feather cleaning).
- Additional information about the Gulf Oil Spill of 2010 would be a good supplement to this activity.
- There is another activity about oil spills on TeachEngineering: http://www.teachengineering.com/view_lesson.php?url=http://www.teachengineering.org/collection/cub_/lessons/cub_enveng/cub_enveng_lesson01.xml that could be a useful supplement to this activity.
About the Science
- Great hands-on activity that allows students to understand, through experimentation, the most common techniques used in cleaning up oil spills.
- Students are encouraged to argue for both involved parties, environmentalists and oil company owners. This tactcic can help develop an understanding for each interest group.
- Educators may want to seek additional background materials to expand on the cleaning methods and issues associated with each method.
- Passed initial science review - expert review pending.
About the Pedagogy
- Carefully designed activity that includes engineering techniques and engages students in hands-on experiments and discussions.
- Students defend their position as a environmental engineer or oil company executive.
- Discussion includes a step where every student is required to take a stand (a "forced choice") on what they think.
- Defining hypothesis, setting up and doing experiments, graphing data, and discussing the results will engage students of different learning styles.
- Pre-assessment and post-assessment strategies are included, but could be further supplemented.
Next Generation Science Standards See how this Activity supports:
Middle School
Performance Expectations: 1
MS-ETS1-2: Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
Disciplinary Core Ideas: 3
MS-ETS1.A1:The more precisely a design task’s criteria and constraints can be defined, the more likely it is that the designed solution will be successful. Specification of constraints includes consideration of scientific principles and other relevant knowledge that are likely to limit possible solutions.
MS-ETS1.B3:Sometimes parts of different solutions can be combined to create a solution that is better than any of its predecessors.
MS-ETS1.C1:Although one design may not perform the best across all tests, identifying the characteristics of the design that performed the best in each test can provide useful information for the redesign process—that is, some of those characteristics may be incorporated into the new design.
Cross Cutting Concepts: 3
MS-C4.3:Models are limited in that they only represent certain aspects of the system under study.
MS-C6.2:Structures can be designed to serve particular functions by taking into account properties of different materials, and how materials can be shaped and used.
MS-C7.3:Stability might be disturbed either by sudden events or gradual changes that accumulate over time.
Science and Engineering Practices: 9
MS-P1.4:Ask questions to clarify and/or refine a model, an explanation, or an engineering problem.
MS-P2.1:Evaluate limitations of a model for a proposed object or tool.
MS-P3.2:Conduct an investigation and/or evaluate and/or revise the experimental design to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence that meet the goals of the investigation
MS-P6.4:Apply scientific ideas, principles, and/or evidence to construct, revise and/or use an explanation for real- world phenomena, examples, or events.
MS-P6.6:Apply scientific ideas or principles to design, construct, and/or test a design of an object, tool, process or system.
MS-P6.7:Undertake a design project, engaging in the design cycle, to construct and/or implement a solution that meets specific design criteria and constraints
MS-P6.8:Optimize performance of a design by prioritizing criteria, making tradeoffs, testing, revising, and re- testing.
MS-P7.5:Evaluate competing design solutions based on jointly developed and agreed-upon design criteria.
MS-P8.2:Integrate qualitative and/or quantitative scientific and/or technical information in written text with that contained in media and visual displays to clarify claims and findings.
