Oil Spill STEM Activity

Want to teach your toddler something cool and also something that can help our environment to clean? As the global pandemic has affected schooling, conventional studies are hugely affected. Schools and universities are mostly focusing on online studies. But for toddlers, online study is a difficult job. That doesn’t mean your toddler should miss the fun of doing STEM activities. Help your kids to do fun STEM activities at home under parental guidance.

Objective:

This project shows how the oils floating on the ocean can be cleaned. The main problem nowadays is Oceans are polluted. Oils spill from ships float on the ocean surface. That affects the environment of the oceans. Phytoplanktons, as well as animals living in water, are affected. This will create awareness among the students that caring for our environment is equally important.

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What You Need:

1. Water
2. Bird Feathers
3. Straws
4. Sponges
5. A container (it should be medium-sized and preferably square in shape)
6. Oil
7. Spoon
8. Plastic cups
9. Cocoa powder
10. Graduated Cylinder

The ingredient list is a bit long but the project is very interesting and surely your child will love it.

What You Need To Do?

Toddlers need to clean up oil from water surfaces and save the birds feathers. The bird feathers symbolize marine life.

Implementations:

1. Your little engineer should do it by themselves. Don’t spoil the fun, let them try by giving some tips.
2. Start by spilling some oil in the container. Add some water. Add some cocoa powder to make a colour difference between oil and water.
3. There can be different steps to clean oil from the container. Use a spoon to clear the oil and put it inside the graduated cylinder. Measure how much oil you have collected.
4. Next use a cotton ball to soak the oil from the container. Check how much time it takes. Also, let your child understand is it time-consuming or a better process than the previous one.
5. Spill some soap in the water and see what happens.

Tips For Parents:

1. Show some pictures related to this topic.
2. As oils and cocoa powders will be used, the project can be a bit messy. Be careful while spilling oil as it may make your toddler’s dress and shoe dirty.
3. Parents or teachers should create a certification of merit or some prizes to boost them. 
4. Depending on your kid’s maturity level, you can perform the task with your kid outside. This will help your kid to understand the importance of the project better.

What Happens To The Animals Living In Water If Oil Spills?

Put the feather in the oil-spill container and see what happens. Same as that, oil in the ocean makes the animals and plants unable to breathe inside the water.

Conclusion:

This project will help your child to be aware of nature. They will be more cautious and will make them creative and thoughtful. 

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Oil Spill STEM Activity