First, check with an adult to make sure it's OK for you to try this experiment.
What Do You Do?
Fill a pan or the sink with water and add some vegetable oil. Watch as it forms an oil slick on top of the water. Your challenge: Remove the oil as best as you can. Use "clean-up" tools like cotton balls, spoons, cornstarch, cardboard and anything else you think might soak up the oil.
Ask Yourself...
- Were you able to clean up all of the oil? If it's
this hard to clean up a little bit of oil, then how
hard would it be to clean up thousands of litres of
oil in the ocean and to clean it off of wildlife? Usually
only 15% (15 litres out of every 100 litres) of oil
can be cleaned up. The rest stays in the environment.
- What worked best at cleaning up the oil?
- What problems did you have cleaning up the oil?
- Can you think of any problems you might have if you were cleaning up after a REAL oil spill?
Remember, don't leave a mess; clean up after you're done your experiment.
