Table Of ContentAlaska Oil Spill Curriculum
Grades K-3, 4-6, and 7-12
Updated 2007
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Alaska Oil Spill Curriculum
Updated 2007
Published by Prince William Sound Science Center
and Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council
in conjunction with Prince William Sound Community College
Sections in this Curriculum
Introduction
Curriculum
Grades K-3
Grades 4-6
Grades 7-12
Appendices
Appendix A: Articles, Books, and Other Educational Resources
Appendix B: Organizational Resources
Appendix C: Maps
Appendix D: Videos/DVDs and Photos
Appendix E: Puzzles and Miscellaneous Resources
Alaska Oil Spill Curriculum Evaluation
Curriculum is available online at www.pwsrcac.org/outreach/education.html
1st edition 1990; 2nd edition 1995; Current edition 2007
Alaska Oil Spill Curriculum Introduction
The Alaska Oil Spill Curriculum was originally created in 1990 after the Exxon Valdez
Oil Spill (referred to in the curriculum as “the spill.”) The 20th anniversary of the spill is
in 2009, and a major concern now is complacency. To combat this we continue to
upgrade this curriculum for use in the schools and we invite comments and additions. We
hope everyone that uses this can learn lessons from this tragic spill so that it never
happens again.
This curriculum does not concentrate on the oil spill, but rather on the positive steps that
everyone has made and can make to help prevent future spills, and to reduce the need for
oil by energy conservation and recycling. It is important to look at uses of oil in our own
communities – so waters close to our homes are not contaminated.
The curriculum provides hands-on experiences to connect events with their
consequences. We hope you will experience the joy of being part of this fragile planet as
well as explore the responsibilities we have for its well being.
It is organized in three sets: Grades K-3, 4-6, and 7-12, each with its own table of
contents. They are all available at no cost from the Prince William Sound Regional
Citizens’ Advisory Council website
(http://www.pwsrcac.org/outreach/education.html#curric). Subjects covered are science,
social studies, language arts, mathematics, economics, technology, engineering,
consumer science, art, music, and geography. Each lesson includes extensions at the
beginning. In the appendices you will find listed other resources on these subjects.
Teachers can use them to amend or enhance each lesson. Appendix A contains some
articles courtesy of the Anchorage Daily News and others.
We have tried to make the curriculum objective with exciting activities. We welcome
your suggestions, and if you are interested in having someone from the Prince William
Sound Science Center or the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council
present some of this curriculum to teachers or students, contact us via information on our
websites.
Disposing of Oily Waste
Some lessons in this curriculum suggest using motor oil for in-class experiments and
educational demonstrations. For proper disposal methods of oil, contact your local
landfill manager for guidelines. The following sites also offer information about disposal
and recycling of oil and other hazardous wastes.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPS) Wastes
http://www.epa.gov/osw/
Anchorage Municipality Hazardous Materials Management
http://www.muni.org/sws/hazardouswaste.cfm
1st edition 1990; 2nd edition 1995; Current edition 2007
QUOTES TO REMEMBER
“I hope that we can all learn from this tragedy and work together to protect our jobs,
wildlife, and natural heritage.”
Steve Cowper, Governor of the State of Alaska 5/4/89
“It is too shocking to understand. Never in the millennium of our tradition have we
thought it possible for the water to die. But it is true. …what we see now is death. Death
– not of each other, but of the source of life, the water. We will need much help, much
listening in order to live through the long barren season of dead water, a longer winter
than before…We have never lived through this kind of death. But we have lived through
lots of other kinds of death. We will learn from the past, we will learn from each other,
and we will live.”
Walter Meganack, Sr., traditional chief of Port Graham
“To trace on a map the tortured routes of the oil spilled from the Exxon Valdez is to
appreciate the vulnerability of every coastline on earth as supertankers of 500,000
deadweight tons and more carry crude oil to market.”
Walter B. Parker, chairman, Alaska Oil Spill Commission 1/5/90
“On Good Friday, every citizen of Alaska suffered a tragic loss, including the more than
800 employees of Alyeska…What is going to be done is to attempt to see to it that this
doesn’t happen again, in Alaska or anywhere else in the United States…Government and
industry together can cooperate to prevent a repetition of the Exxon Valdez spill and its
consequences…We at Alyeska are committed to the path which leads to cooperation and
achievement.”
George Nelson, Alyeska President, The Anchorage Times
“One pint of used oil can produce a slick approximately one acre in size, and only one
part per million (1ppm) contamination will spoil the taste and odor of drinking water. At
this ratio, it would take just 1 pint of oil to noticeably contaminate 125,000 gallons of
drinking water. That’s more than 15 people drink in a lifetime…A study done for the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported that in 1983, 350 million gallons of used
oil were disposed of improperly in the United States. This means that in one year alone,
almost 32 times the amount of oil spilled in Prince William Sound was disposed of in
environmentally harmful ways nationwide. Crankcase oil drainings have been reported to
account for more than 40% of the total oil pollution of US harbors and waterways.”
Dennis Kelso, Commissioner, AK. Dept. of Environmental Conservation
“If you convinced two people to do something for the environment, and the next day they
convinced two people, and so on, it would take less than a month to get everyone in the
U.S. to take action.”
National Wildlife Federation Wildlife Week Poster 1990
ALASKA OIL SPILL CURRICULUM
Table of Contents
K-3
INVESTIGATING OIL SPILLS ......................................................... 3-4
THE WEB OF LIFE.................................................................................. 5-6
MICRO HIKE............................................................................................ 7-8
ECOSYSTEM CHORUS............................................................................ 9-10
HABITAT MODELS.................................................................................. 11-12
Habitat Registration Form.............................................................. 13
HABITAT CONCENTRATION.............................................................. 15-16
OIL EXPLORATION................................................................................ 17-18
OIL SPILL CLEANUP............................................................................... 19-20
OIL SCAVENGER HUNT........................................................................ 21-22
CAN DO!....................................................................................................... 23-24
Published by the Prince William Sound Science Center
and Prince William Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council
in conjunction with Prince William Sound Community College
Updated 2007
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Alaska Oil Spill Curriculum k-3
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Alaska Oil Spill Curriculum K-3
INVESTIGATING OIL SPILLS
DEVELOPED BY: Belle Mickelson
EXTENSIONS: Geography & Language Arts
DURATION: Three 30 minute periods
OBJECTIVES: Students will discuss the Exxon
Valdez oil spill and other spills. Students will
begin student or class journals as they plan
for a visit (imaginary in most cases) to south-
coastal Alaska. Students will collect articles
and pictures about oil spills and other energy
issues.
BACKGROUND: Good Friday, March 24, 1989, the
tanker Exxon Valdez hit the rocks of Bligh Reef
spilling 11 million gallons of oil on the waters
of Prince William Sound. The oil continued
on down the coast eventually touching over
1,000 miles of beaches including those of the
MATERIALS:
Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island. Exactly
News clippings
what happened varies with the news source.
Magazine articles
In this activity students will begin individual or
class journals refl ecting on their feelings about Videos on the Exxon Valdez oil
the oil spill - and their hopes for the future. spill
Younger students may want to draw a series Other materials available in your
of pictures for their journal, written on the
local library, museum, or news
board or on posterboard by the teacher, then
service.
copied onto regular paper. The class text can
Paper and covers or notebooks to
be xeroxed and stapled onto their pictures.
make journals.
PROCEDURE: Markers and/or colored pencils
1. Warm-up: Ask the students if they have Map of Alaska
ever heard about the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Blackboard
Show students the Alaska Fish and Game “Spe-
Bulletin board
cial Oil Spill Issue” if available, or a sample of
Alaska Fish & Game “Special Oil
magazine pictures, articles or books about oil
Spill Issue”
spills (see appendices at end of curriculum).
“Adventures of Ranger Rick,”
Note differences in the reports of what actu-
ally happened. Ranger Rick March 1990,
pg. 29-32
2. Announce a “trip” to Prince William Sound
to see what is going on this year. Read the
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Alaska Oil Spill Curriculum k-3
INVESTIGATING OIL SPILLS
Ranger Rick article about Rick and the gang's visit to Alaska one year after the big oil
spill. Then begin student or class journals about the trip. Have students draw or write
their fi rst impressions of the spill.
3. Introduce the video Voices of the Sound made by Mike Lewis and David Grimes
shortly after the spill happened. Footage by Joel Bennett at the beginning shows the
beauty of Prince William Sound and its wildlife. The fi lm was made for adults - but has
been shown very successfully in elementary classrooms. Terms to mention beforehand
include CDFU (Cordova District Fishermen United) whose role in the spill is described
in an article in the back of the curriculum. Have the students point on the map to the
Prince William Sound communities. Cordova is a fi shing community; Valdez has oil and
tourism industries in addition to fi shing; Whittier has tourism and fi shing; Chenega and
Tatitlek are Native fi shing communities which depend upon subsistence hunting and fi shing.
Outside the Sound, impacted communities include Kodiak, the country‛s largest fi shing
port, Seward, Homer, Seldovia, Port Graham, and English Bay on the Kenai Peninsula, and
other small villages along the Alaska Peninsula. Ask the students how they would feel if
their beaches (ocean, rivers, lakes) were oiled?
4. Then show Voices of the Sound to see how the Cordova fi shermen and women felt.
Have students write or draw their impressions in their journals.
5. Wrap-up: Encourage students to clip current event pictures/articles about oil spills
in their state and in other countries around the world for a class bulletin board.
EXTENSION:
1. Geography/language arts: Write letters to foreign newspapers asking for articles
about the Exxon Valdez oil spill — and oil spills in their country. Research in your li-
brary/museum for articles about spills around the world.
2. Language Arts: Invite a reporter into class to describe investigative journalism/re-
porting. Ideally, interview a reporter who worked on the spill or watch video footage
made by a news team such as America's Biggest Oil Spill (see appendices).
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Alaska Oil Spill Curriculum K-3
Description:hope everyone that uses this can learn lessons from this tragic spill so that it
never .. Geography/language arts: Write letters to foreign newspapers asking
for
