SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2010
KLMNO
SC5
from The Mini Page © 2010 Universal Uclick Stopping the Oil Experts say once oil is spilled, it’s
hard to clean up. Since the accident on April 20, many different methods have been tried to clean up the oil.
Break it up
Scientists have tried using dispersants (dis-PURS-ants)— chemicals that do sort of the same thing as natural microbes. Dispersants break up oil into small droplets that attach to other things in the water, such as plants and animals. But these chemicals also make it harder for people to “capture” the oil.
Burn it off Workers have also tried burning the
oil off the surface of the ocean. This method is difficult because of weather and tides putting out the fires. Also, the fires can add to air pollution.
Skim it off
A skimmer moves across thewater surface and sucks up the oil floating there. But usually it gathers much morewater than oil.
from The Mini Page © 2010 Universal Uclick Ready Resources
The Mini Page provides ideas for websites, books or other resources that will help you learn more about this week’s topics.
On the Web: •
www.nwf.org/oilspill/kids •
www.nwf.org/rrgreenzone •
www.ifitwasmyhome.com/
At the library: • “Oil Spill!” by Melvin Berger
TM
What about the leaks? The company that owns the oil well
and scientists are working hard to stop the leak at the bottom of the ocean. You have probably heard news reports about many different ideas they’ve tried.
Experts say the only sure way to stop
Yellow booms in the water surround a piece of land where brown pelicans land.
Protect wetlands
For oil floating on the surface, scientists use booms, floating bumpers with “skirts” hanging into the water, to protect certain areas where oil could do the most harm. They may use a series of booms, one inside the other. The inside ring may be a sorbent boom, which attracts oil. Outer rings keep oil out. In the gulf spill, booms may not be
very effective because so much oil is rising up from the ocean floor.
the leak is to drill a new well, called a relief well, close to the damaged one. They will use the new well to pump a special heavy liquid into the broken well, followed by cement, shutting off the leaking oil. This will probably happen early in August. In early June, a funnel-type structure called a containment cap was lowered over the leaking well.A pipe leading up to container ships collected some of the oil. In July, a better- fitting cap was lowered over the well, shutting off more of the flow of oil.
CAP from The Mini Page © 2010 Universal Uclick Ocean of Oil TRY ’N FIND
Words that remind us of the oil spill are hidden in the block below. Some words are hidden backward or diagonally, and some letters are used twice. See if you can find: ANIMALS, BIRDS, BOOM, BURN, DISPERSANT, ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, FOSSIL, FUEL, GAS, GULF, LEAK, MEMBRANE, MEXICO, OIL, PIPE, PLANT, PLATFORM, RENEWABLE, RISER, SARGASSUM, SKIM, WELL, WETLAND.
LET’S WORK FOR CLEAN ENERGY!
TN A S R E P S I D R E S I R PN V Q J W B A E O S K I M E P L A L E A K R N C S HGN N DN A L T E W G E I Z D A E E FD L T P G U A R X M R R P W UN L Y F L A S G E B A V I A EW K I F O B S Y M H U L P B LI S
S O F R U E C J C R S L BO O M T N E M N O R I V N E
What happened in the Gulf of Mexico? Oil is a fossil fuel. Fossil fuels
were made from fossils, or the remains of animals and plants that lived hundreds of millions of years ago. When ancient animals and plants died, they became buried underground and crushed by heat and pressure for millions of years. This turned them into liquid or gas. These important fossil fuels may be
miles under the surface of the Earth. In the case of the Gulf of Mexico well, the oil was two miles under the ocean floor.
© 2010 Universal Uclick Environmental Disaster An Ocean of Oil
More than three months ago, an explosion on an oil drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico set off what scientists think may be the worst environmental disaster we have ever faced in the United States. The oil that leaked into the ocean is still killing sea animals, plants and birds.
But officials hope this catastrophe will push Americans to work harder for our environment.
This week, The Mini Page talks to an expert about the oil spill, its effects, and how kids can make positive changes for our future.
When people drill to find oil, they
often also find explosive natural gases, such as methane. Experts think that on April
20, a bubble of gas moved about 5,000 feet up the oil platform’s “riser pipe.” When it got near the
platform, it probably came into contact with a spark or a flame. This set off an explosion that killed 11 workers on the oil platform. Oil began spilling into the ocean from two places in the riser pipe.
Oil and water don’t mix If you’ve seen pictures of the thick
SEA LEVEL
oil in the water, you may wonder why it doesn’t sink in the ocean. Oil is less dense, or has less weight for a certain amount, than water. Experts say tiny bits of oil naturally
OCEAN FLOOR
seep into the ocean all the time. Microbes, microscopic life-forms, living in the ocean break down these little bits of oil. But microbes are overwhelmed by such a big oil spill. Nature helps get rid of the oil in
other ways. Some of it will evaporate, or become part of the air. Some will be broken down by water and light. Some of the oil from the well will eventually attach to other particles in the water and settle on the bottom of the sea.
Try this: Fill a drinking glass with water, then drop a
teaspoon of vegetable oil into the water. Even though the oil seems thicker, it floats on the surface of the water.
August 1, 2010 from The Mini Page © 2010 Universal Uclick
photo courtesy Dubinsky Photography for the Louisiana Environmental Action Network
photo courtesy U.S. Coast Guard
Basset Brown The News Hound’s
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152