Earth Day Oil Spill Clean-up STEM Activity

Set Up Your Ocean: Fill your shallow tray about halfway with water. Add a few drops of blue food coloring and gently stir — this is your “ocean.”

Slowly pour about ¼ cup of vegetable oil onto the surface of the water. Watch what happens! The oil will spread and float on top. This is your simulated oil spill.

Before trying anything, take a moment to observe. Where is the oil going? Does it mix with the water? What happens if you gently stir?

Dip a feather into the oily water and see how it affects the feather — this shows how birds are harmed by real oil spills.

First use a spoon to try to scoop the oil off the surface and putting it into a separate cup or container. This method is called skimming.

For our next method, Try placing the oily feather onto a paper towel and use a second one to absorb the oil from the surface. Gently touch the paper towel to the feather and watch what happens.

Next, create a fresh, clean ocean and pour some oil into the water. Twist pipe cleaners together into a ring, and quickly place it around the oil in the water. Pour some more oil into the contained area.

Now drop a feather outside the containment ring. Notice how the feather is far less affected than before — the oil stays contained inside the barrier.

For our last method, remove the pipe cleaner so the oil can spread around in your ocean. Then, using the sand or kitty litter pour some on top of the oil.

Next, using the skimming method that we used earlier, the oil has now combined with the sand into clumps making it easier to collect it from the water.

Bonus — Cleaning the Animal with Dish Soap: Add just a couple drops of dish soap to the oily feather and gently work it in. The soap breaks up the oil, allowing it to mix with water so it can be rinsed away.