Cleaning up an oil spill

Oil spills have been in the news a lot lately. This week the Year 5 and 6 students have been investigating the best method to clean up an oil spill. They found out that when oil meets with water it floats on top of the water.

Check out Oil and Water Don't Mix which is a slide show about oil pollution.

The students used a dropper to act like a vacuum cleaner that would suck up the oil They also used a paper towel, cotton wool ball and filter paper to act like sponges.

Most groups found it really hard to clean up the oil - especially when it broke down into smaller bubbles or oil.

This picture shows a group using a cotton wool ball to soak up the oil from their model ocean.