Product Description
This activity has students research and present information on a variety of cleanup methods (see the list below) for an environmental spill (in this case Tar from a Tanker truck accident).
Curriculum Learning Goal for this activity is: "To assess the impact of fluid spills on society and the environment, including the cost of the cleanup and the effort involved."
Students will be asked to read a real newspaper article about a tanker truck accident that caused tar to leak into wetlands. (Although this assignment is geared toward the city of Kingston due to the accident location, any similar news article would work and this assignment can be changed to reflect any location)
Part A of this assignment will have students acting as council members for the community. Their task is to do research on a spill cleaning method. I had two students sign up for each method so they could work together. I have included a student sample slide in this file as well.
The clean-up methods found in this activity are:
•Booms and Skimmers*
•Chemical Surface Dispersants*
•Controlled Burns*
•Sorbent Materials
•Vacuum/pumping*
•Vegetation Cutting
•Low-Pressure Flush
•Manual/Mechanical Cleanup (shovels, trucks on shore)*
•Natural Recovery
•Water-Oil Separating Devices
•Gelling Agents
•Biological Agents (help decompose soil faster)
•Hay
•Oil Eating Mushrooms
Information that students were asked to include on their slide:
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How the method works.
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How effective it is.
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A picture
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The cost of the method.
Part B:
Students will now become the Mayor of Kingston (again, you could change the town name). With the slides completed from Part A, students are now responsible for deciding on the best method to clean up the spill from the tanker truck crash.
After reviewing the pros and cons of each method, students will be asked to present their decision to the people of Kingston. They will be writing a letter that will be emailed to each resident explaining their choice (fictional letter of course).
A general letter template is provided that students can just fill in. A sample letter written by one of my students is included as well.
The zip file contains:
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The .pptx file for the powerpoint presentation you can share with your class.
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A pdf file of a slide that shows you a student sample of the research.
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The word doc of the letter writing assignment as the mayor.
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A pdf file of a student sample letter.
I hope your students enjoy this activity as much as mine did!
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