Lab 7: Water Pollution — Oil Spill
Week of Tue, Oct 20 · lab closes Mon, Oct 26 · 30 points
This lab's items
- Data Collection (due 10/26) + Lab Write Up (due 11/2)30 pts
Exact due times are in Canvas. Late assignments are not accepted without a valid, documented reason. Make-up assignments are not given without valid documentation.
Know these cold
- Oil spills occur when petroleum is released into an aquatic environment through pipeline breaks, tanker accidents, platform blowouts, or illegal dumping. Effects range from immediate acute toxicity to long-term chronic contamination.
- Oil is hydrophobic (repels water) and less dense than water, so it spreads across the surface as a slick. The slick coats seabirds' feathers (destroying insulation and waterproofing), covers marine mammals' fur, and blocks sunlight from reaching phytoplankton below.
- Oil degradation: sunlight breaks down oil chemically (photodegradation). Bacteria (Alcanivorax, Marinobacter) metabolize certain hydrocarbons — this is natural bioremediation, but it consumes oxygen and can create hypoxic zones.
- Oil cleanup methods include: physical containment (booms), mechanical recovery (skimmers), chemical dispersants (break oil into smaller droplets — controversial because small droplets are more bioavailable), in-situ burning, and bioremediation (adding nutrients to stimulate oil-eating bacteria).
- In your lab, you are testing the effectiveness of five different absorbent/collection materials (cotton balls, sponge, paper towels, dryer lint, maxi pad, straw, sawdust, etc.) at removing oil from a controlled water surface.
- Measuring effectiveness: compare the volume or mass of oil collected vs. water absorbed by each material. A material that absorbs oil selectively without absorbing much water is most effective for cleanup.
- Real-world example: Deepwater Horizon (2010) released an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The response combined booms, skimming, dispersants (Corexit), and controlled burns. Long-term ecosystem impacts are still being studied.
- Connection to BIO 1120 Outcome 3: oil spills dramatically impact aquatic ecosystems — killing plankton (base of marine food webs), coating birds and mammals, and contaminating sediments for years. Your lab physically demonstrates why rapid, effective cleanup matters.
Discussion and forum — how to show up
Netiquette from the syllabus: address ideas, not people. Complete sentences, correct spelling. Personal matters go to email, never the board.
Meerk's quiz — open the Lab 7 gate
10 questions, no time limit. 85% on your first attempt in a 24-hour window opens the gate. Retakes inside the window are practice — they help you learn, they don't count. Work alone; the point is to know it, not to have seen it.
Dinner Table Question
Ask at home: If an oil spill happened in the Chesapeake Bay tomorrow, which two actions would you want the government to take first — and why those two?
En español: Si mañana ocurriera un derrame de petróleo en la Bahía de Chesapeake, ¿cuáles dos acciones querrías que el gobierno tomara primero — y por qué esas dos?