Section 1: Fluids have many applications, but must be used safely.

Key Ideas     Unit Checklist

  Unit A: Section 1 – Introduction


Figure A.S.1.1 – Alberta’s economy is largely based on the oil and gas industry.
Petroleum

Petroleum oil, or crude oil, is a fluid found deep underground. It is a mixture of many different substances. People around the world have extracted and burned petroleum oil for thousands of years, but it wasn’t until 1850 that better pumps were invented to make oil flow out of the ground more easily.

Modern life would not be possible without crude oil. Oil is burned as fuel to make vehicles, boats, and airplanes move. We could not transport people, manufactured goods, and food around the world without crude oil. The fluids in crude oil are also reacted with other chemicals to form plastics, fertilizers, fabrics, and medicines.

Can you imagine your life without cars, without fresh fruits and vegetables in the winter, or without computers? All of these modern comforts are possible because of petroleum oil.

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Uses of Oil

Petroleum is used for many purposes in addition to vehicle fuel. Watch this video to learn about many ways that oil makes our daily lives better.

 
 

  Connections 

Figure A.S.1.2 – An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig caused a massive oil spill in 2010.
Figure A.S.1.3 – A satellite view of the Gulf of Mexico showing spilled crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon.

Connections – The Environment
>> Oil Spills

If petroleum is not handled or transported safely, environmental disasters can happen. Petroleum burns easily and can fuel uncontrollable fires. Another common problem with crude oil is spills, from incidents such as derailed trains, broken pipelines, and sinking ships. Crude oil spills are especially a problem when oil enters waterways like rivers or oceans. Oil floats and flows great distances on water, which makes it difficult to clean up.

The largest oil spill in history happened in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, causing oil to gush from the underwater oil well into the ocean. It took nearly three months to cap the oil well. Before the well was capped, nearly 800 million litres of crude oil flowed from the ocean floor into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was an environmental disaster. Oil and tar balls washed up for hundreds of kilometres along the southern shoreline of the United States. Crude oil is very toxic to living things. Crude oil killed birds and large sea animals like dolphins. Fish and other sea life suffered negative health effects, such as early death and young being born with oozing sores and no eyes. The fishing industry in the area was destroyed, because fish and seafood exposed to oil became toxic.

Figure A.S.1.4 – When crude oil washes onto shore, sea animals become coated with oil.
Figure A.S.1.5 – Birds coated with oil have trouble flying and staying warm. They often die.

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Oil Spills

Massive oil spills have negative effects that last for years. Watch this video to learn more about the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the environment and on people’s lives.

 
 


Why are oil spills so hard to clean up and why do they affect wildlife like birds so negatively? Watch this video to learn more.

 
 


This video explains some of the methods that are used to clean up oil spills.

 
 


This video explains some of the long-term damage from oil spills.

 
 

  Words to Think About:

Check out the word cloud below. It pictures the important words that you are going to learn in this section. Watch for these words, and combinations of these words, as you read. When you see them highlighted, you can click on them to learn more about what the word means. You can also visit the course glossary and read definitions for all of these words.

 
Lessons in This Section

Lesson A1: Using Substances Safely
Key Question – How do we prevent getting hurt when using dangerous fluids?
 
Lesson A2: A World of Fluids
Key Question – What are some common fluids that we use everyday?
Reading and Materials for This Section

Science in Action 8
Reading: Pages 8–17

Materials Lists for Unit A:
Master List of all materials
Materials organized by lesson and activity

  Try It!


Oil Spill Cleanup

Try this simple experiment which simulates cleaning up an oil spill. Your goal is to prevent oil from reaching the sides of a pan, which is similar to stopping spilled crude oil from reaching the shoreline.

Materials: 

  • Shallow glass pan
  • Water
  • Vegetable oil
  • Cup
  • Measuring spoons
  • Straws
  • Cotton balls
  • Dish detergent

Instructions: 
    1. Fill the shallow glass pan with water.

    2. Measure 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil into the cup.

    3. Pour the vegetable oil from the cup into the middle of the pan.

    4. Arrange straws on the surface of the water to contain the oil. If you are not successful the first time, wash out the pan and try again.

    5. Once the oil is contained by straws, use cotton balls to clean oil off the water’s surface.

    6. Add 4 drops of dish detergent to any remaining oil in the pan. What do you observe?

    7. Watch this video to learn more about cleaning up oil spills.

 
 

Questions: 

Think about the following questions very carefully. Then, type or write your answers. After you have your answers, click the questions for feedback.

 
The straws represented booms. The straws contained oil on the water surface and stopped it from moving to the edges of the pan.
The cotton balls represented absorbers. The cotton balls absorbed oil from the surface of the water.
The dish detergent represented dispersants. The detergent caused the floating oil to break up into smaller droplets.