Chris Peltz, the teacher of the environmental engineering class at Science Discovery, was kind enough to invite me to come speak to his class about my research on oil spill remediation. I also gave a live oil spill demonstration using the new wave tank I built.
The tank is a simple plastic bin with a "wave flap" bolted to the bottom. Oil is injected through a well head underneath the surface of the water (meant to simulate the Deepwater Horizon blowout) and forms a slick. The wave flap is used to distribute the oil throughout the tank to demonstrate what happens on the surface of the ocean. The dispersant is applied to the slick providing the "OOOOoooooo, Ahhhhhh" moment and dispersing the oil. Yes, I really did get ooooos and ahhhhhs.
It provided the students with the opportunity to learn about oil, surfactants, and solvents, ask questions about the remediation process, and the effect the chemicals have on the environment. There was a lively discussion about why the hand soap one girl applied to the surface was insufficient to disperse the oil.
This was the first "trial" run using the wave tank for demonstration purposes. I hope to use it in more classrooms this coming fall for additional K-12 outreach.
A shout out and huge thank you goes to Chris Peltz for the photos on this blog post.
