Save Casco Bay from an Oil Spill! - To demonstrate what happens
in an oil spill, fill a glass bottle two-thirds full of water.
Add blue food coloring to make the "ocean." - Pour 1/2-inch or
more of cooking oil into the bottle. This is the "oil spill."
Where does the oil congregate? (It floats on the surface) What
happens to an object (a cork) that you drop into the bottle? (It
becomes coated with oil) - Put on the cap and shake the bottle
vigorously (like storm or wave action). What happens to the oil?
(Some of it mixes with the water) - Ask what would happen to
organisms that float on the surface (sea birds, ducks, seaweeds,
planktonic animals) or that need to come to the surface to
breathe (whales, seals, sea turtles). (They'd be coated with
oil.) - Explain that over time the water and oil mix somewhat
and that some of the oil (which is heavier than this cooking
oil) will sink to the bottom of the ocean. What would happen to
flounders, sea urchins, lobsters, crabs, and other bottom
dwellers? - Students have