Polluted Duck Pond Experiment

Overview:

This experiment will focus on examining the effects that pollution has on aquatic wildlife.  Specifically, it will showcase how oil that enters a duck’s habitat can end up coating the animal, weighing them down as a result. Students will compare the differences between feathers in water to feathers dipped in oily water.  Also, students will utilize soap to see an example of what kind of materials can help clean oil off of a duck’s feathers.  

Time: 

10-15 min

Lesson Materials:

*You can use the document in the link below to either: tailor the experiment to your needs or to have a printable version of this lesson plan*

Polluted Duck Pond Experiment Lesson Plan

The plan is editable and printable. Copy the Google Doc in your own drive and make edits or you can just print.

Polluted Duck Pond Experiment Lesson Video:

Learning Objectives:

  1. Recognize the effects that oil can have on wildlife, such as ducks.
  2. Identify how surface tension can be changed.
  3. Understand how soap-like substances can be effective for helping clean oil buildup off of animals.
  4. Have awareness of the kinds of events that cause oil to enter natural habitats in the first place.

Materials Needed:

  • Two bowls of water
  • ½ cup Oil such as vegetable or olive oil
  • Feathers
  • Pump of any kind of liquid soap
  • 1 Tbs Cocoa Powder

Experimental Methods:

Preparation 

  1. Print observation table given below.  The student will record the results of each part of the experiment in this table.  

Experiment Part 1: Feather in Pure Water

  1. Fill up a bowl or pan with water.
  2. Take a feather and prepare to lay it onto the surface of the water.
  3. Try and predict what will happen to the feather.  Will it sink or float?
  4. Go ahead and lay the feather onto the water. 
  5. The feather should be floating on the surface.

                  Experiment Part 2: Feather in Oily Water

  1. Grab a cup and fill it with ½ cup vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder.  This will simulate crude oil.  
  2. Grab a different bowl or pan and fill it with water.
  3. Pour a little bit of the oil mixture into the water bowl.  
  4. Notice how the mixture stays on top, since oil and water don’t mix.  This creates separate oil and water layers.
  5. Now take the feather from the previous step and dip it in this new mixture.
  6. Notice how the feather is heavier than before.
  7. Make a prediction for what will happen if the feather is now laid on top of this mixture.  Will it sink or float?
  8. Lay the feather down onto the mixture.  Observe what happens.  
  9. The feather should be sinking below the surface.  

                           Experiment Part 3: Oily Feather in Pure Water

  1. Make a prediction for what will happen to the oily feather if it’s put back into the clean water bowl.  Will it float like how it did in the first part?  Will it still sink?
  2. Take the oily feather and lay it onto the clean water.  Observe what happens.
  3. The feather should still sink below the surface.  

                       Experiment Part 4: Cleaning the Oily Feather with Water

  1. Take the oily feather that was used previously and gently rinse it in the sink with only water.  
  2. Dry the feather with a paper towel.  How well did the water clean the oil coating?
  3. Notice how the coating wasn’t completely taken off by clean water rinse.  

                           Experiment Part 5: Cleaning the Feather with Soap

  1. Either re dip the feather from before into the oily mixture or dip a new one.  
  2. Take the feather and gently rinse it in the sink with water and a liquid detergent.
  3. Dry the feather with a paper towel and observe how much of the oily coating was removed.
  4. The detergent should have removed much more of the oil than the pure water alone.

Expected Experimental Results:

If the experiment is conducted properly, the student should be able to see the oil covered feather sink below the surface of the oil/water bowl as well as the pure water dish.  The student should also be able to observe how the detergent more effectively cleaned the oily coating off of the feathers. 

Deep Thinking Questions:

  1. Why does the feather sink below the surface?
  2. What other animals could be affected by oil runoff?
  3. What are some ways these animals’ habitats could be protected from pollution? 
  4. How does oil enter waterways?

Chemistry:

The reason the feathers sank in the experiment is because the “surface tension” of the water was changed.  Surface tension can be described as the tension of a liquid’s surface film.  In this case, it allows objects to float on the surface, such as the feathers.  This surface tension is formed by hydrogen bonds which bind water molecules together.  Normally objects like the feather would be able to repel the water and float on the surface.  However, because it becomes coated in oil, it is heavier and can no longer utilize the surface tension.  The feather will end up sinking below the surface.

Society:

This experiment was designed to showcase the negative effects that oil pollution can have on the environment and wildlife.  Accidents involving oil barges, refineries, or others can create large spills that contaminate places like oceans and rivers.  Oil runoff from drilling sites or even just cars on the road can end up polluting natural environments.  Wildlife that live near the polluted areas can end up ingesting contaminated water.  Animals with fur can become covered in oil, making it more difficult for them to stay warm.  The ones with feathers become much heavier, hindering their ability to perform actions like floating on water or flying.  Besides affecting wildlife, oil pollution is also known to create tar on beaches and make areas unsafe for swimming.  Although all these issues are unfortunate consequences of oil pollution, the good news is that anyone can do their part to help stop events like these from occurring.  Being aware that problems like these exist allows people to take preemptive actions like checking for oil leaks in their cars, or making sure that the substance is disposed of properly so it doesn’t reach a waterbody.  These actions can make a major difference in keeping the planet safe for both human beings and wildlife.    

Logistics:

STEAM Subjects: 

Science (Chemistry), Environmental Science

Science Vocabulary: 

Surface tension, water molecules, hydrogen bonds

References:

  1. Science experiments for kids: The quirkles. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2021, from https://www.quirkles.com/science-experiments-for-kids.cfm?experiment=FC07415A-54E5-48E7-9DDFA4DACDEBDDF7#:~:text=The%20oil%20and%20water%20separate,on%20top%20of%20the%20water.&text=After%20the%20feather%20was%20dipped,the%20majority%20of%20sea%20life.
  1. Surface tension, Grade 2-5. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2021, from http://butane.chem.uiuc.edu/pshapley/enlist/labs/surfaceten/surface.html

Funding:

CSU Internal Funding Sources:

  • IRA (Instructionally Related Activities Fund)
  • Faculty Small Grant

External Funding Sources:

  • Adobe