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Oil: Black Gold or Black Death?

By KRISTEN STERNBERG | NIE Educational Consultant

Oil is such a valuable resource that it has been nicknamed "Black Gold." Can you figure out how it came to be called Black Gold? Oil is mined using high-tech equipment that drills into the earth's crust.

When an oil deposit is discovered, oil is pumped upwards to the earth's surface. Still in a "crude" form, the oil is thick and very black. It is so valuable to us as a fuel (products made from it include refined oil, propane and gasoline) and in the manufacture of many other products (crayons, car and truck tires, plastics and sneakers are just a few) that it is often thought of as "gold." Many people have become rich through drilling and selling "black gold." You may already know of one such man, John D. Rockefeller, who built his historic house "The Casements" in Ormond Beach, right here in our state.

In the United States, Texas, Alaska and California are the top three oil producers. Although oil is found in other states, our country produces only about half what we need because we have become so dependent on oil for heat, fuel and all the other products made from it. Only one other country, Saudi Arabia, produces more oil than the U.S.

Because we need much more oil than we can produce, our country imports (brings in) oil from other parts of the world. We use ships called oil tankers to carry the product back and forth. Thousands of gallons of oil are transported on each oil tanker, using oceans and other waterways to get from one place to another.

Sometimes, the ships carrying oil run into trouble. Recently, a tanker ran aground near the Galapagos Islands off the coast of South America. The ship was carrying 243,000 gallons of diesel fuel, a refined oil product. The accident caused the tanker to spill its fuel into the ocean!

Try placing a few drops of oil-you can use cooking oil for this experiment-into a glass of water. What happens? Have you ever heard the expression "oil and water don't mix?" That's right, the oil stays on the surface and cannot be absorbed into the water!

That is exactly what happens when a tanker spills its oil into the ocean. The oil stays on the surface-a huge, dark, gooey mess that spreads over the top of the water for miles and miles. Creatures such as fish, birds, and marine animals (otters and seals, for example) that live, or hunt for food, in the water become coated with the oil. Then they cannot swim or fly. Many animals die in oil spills.

How do we "fix," or recover from, tanker accidents like this? Usually, people work together in using cleanup equipment to recover the oil. Some of their equipment works like vacuum cleaners to draw the oil from the surface of the water into another container. No matter how much they get, however, it is impossible to get all the oil back. The rest continues to spread, polluting the environment and harming wildlife.

Who should take responsibility for accidents such as oil spills? According to a newspaper article, in the case of the Galapagos Islands fuel spill, Captain Arevalo and 13 members of his crew will be charged with negligence or crimes against the environment, since the cause of the accident was determined to be human error.

By the way, the term "Black Death," used in the title of this issue, refers to an event that occurred almost 700 years ago, when the bubonic plague killed between 1/4 and 1/2 of all the people living in Europe. Two pests-rats and fleas-were probably responsible for this plague. The fleas that the rats carried also bit humans, who became infected from the bites. The infection caused people to break out into black splotches. Almost everyone who was bitten by the infected fleas died from the "Black Death." Now do you know why the phrase "Oil: Black Gold or Black Death" was used as the topic for this issue?

All of us use oil in some form every day of our lives. While scientists continue to search for sources of energy other than oil, and use of alternate sources of power (wind, water, etc.) is increasing, oil is currently indispensable-a must-have-to us. However, accidents such as oil spills are a huge threat to our environment. Can you think of any solutions to this two-sided issue, or "dilemma?"

Try these fun activities using The News-Journal!

1. 1. The oil tanker named Jessica was carrying 243,000 gallons of oil when it ran aground near the Galapagos Islands. The word "gallons" refers to an amount. Amounts, or quantities, are just one way to measure things. What other words can you think of to indicate a quantity (how much?)? Search the newspaper for different ways to describe how things are measured. For a head start, think about the various ways we measure distance (how far?), time (how long?) and weight (how heavy?). Clip the words you find, and glue them onto a sheet of construction paper to make a poster about measurements.
   
   Hang your poster on a wall for others to learn from or even add to. If you think of-and find-more than a dozen ways to measure, you're exceptional. If you find more than two dozen, you're awesome! Here's a hint: Why do some words in this paragraph appear in bold type? If you figured out that they're ways to measure, you're ahead of the game!
   
   Be sure to visit the Department of the Environment's "Fun Facts" while you're doing this activity. There, you can learn about more units of measurement and explore other interesting ideas. (Sunshine State Standards: LA.A.1.2.3, LA.A.2.2.5, MA.B.2.2.2)



2. Look through the newspaper for pictures of animals. Make a list of these animals as you find them. Using the newspaper and other research materials, determine whether each animal you listed would be likely to be harmed by an oil spill, and write either "yes" (likely to be harmed) or "no" (unlikely) next to its name. Add up how many animals you marked "yes" and then how many you marked "no." Make a chart or graph to show how many animals you have in each of the two categories. (Sunshine State Standards: MA.E.1.2.1, MA.E.3.2.1, SC.G.2.2.3)



3. Find and read newspaper articles that relate to our environment. Did you find more that made you feel positive, or more that made you feel negative? Plan with family or friends to help improve one or more of the negative situations. (Sunshine State Standards: LA.A.2.2.4, LA.A2.2.5. SC.D.2.2.1, SC.G.2.2.1, SC.G.2.2.2, SC.G.2.2.3)



4. From the newspaper, choose an article about someone who is working to preserve the environment. Read the article and select words or phrases you think are important. Arrange the words and phrases into a "found poem." A "found poem" is created by using only words you found in the article and placing them in an order that has meaning for you. Share your creation. (Sunshine State Standards: SC.G.2.2.1, LA.A.1.2.2, LA.A.2.2.5, LA.B.1.2.1)



5. Search the advertising sections of your newspaper and clip pictures of items that you think require fuel to operate or that are made from oil products. How many did you find? How many of the items you found do you think the world could live without? How many of them do you think are necessary for our existence? Explore some of the links below to find more items. Then draw pictures of them to add to your collection. Make a collage of your pictures and share it with a parent, teacher or friend. (Sunshine State Standards: SC.A.1.2.4, SC.B.1.2.2, SC.B.2.2.1)

A copy of Florida's Sunshine State Standards can be found at intech2000.miamisci.org/.

Check out these links to learn more

Where does oil come from? The U.S. Department of the Environment web site includes lots of neat facts about oil, along with some interesting charts and maps. Want to find out how we use much of the oil we produce? At the web site, read through the section "How Is It Used?" to learn about some products made from oil.

While you're at the Department of the Environment site, check out the Kid's Corner. There you can look at other sources of energy besides oil, like coal, water or even wind! Scroll through the site to read about scientists who are considered pioneers in energy research.

How many products do we make from oil? Are we running out of it? What does the oil industry do to protect the environment? The American Petroleum Institute's web site answers these-and many more--questions you may have about oil. Once you've looked over the site, answer the questions the American Petroleum Institute has for you - by taking the energy quiz!

The tanker Jessica ran aground near the Galapagos Islands, off the coast of South America. Why do news reporters seem concerned about the location of this oil spill? At the World Wildlife Fund's web site you can see a slide show of photos from the Galapagos Islands, where the spill occurred. Be sure to check out the Fact Stack for some cool facts about the Islands. Visit these sites to learn about the Galapagos Islands' unusual ecosystem, native peoples, animal oddities and historical value.

How many oil spills have there been? Check out the oil spill web site from infoplease.com for interesting accounts of past spills. Give yourself extra credit for adding up the millions of gallons of oil from all the spills. At the Department of the Environment's web site, "Fun Facts", you will learn how many gallons of oil can fit into a barrel. You will need this information to do the addition!

Learn more about the Black Death from one student's school report on the bubonic plague.

The Newspaper Association of America's web site contains links to many of our nation's and world's newspapers. Visit the site and check out some other newspapers to see if they have articles about the oil industry or other spills. To access the newspapers at the site, select a state. Click on the "Internationals" button to view choices from other countries.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal NIE Program, published January 29, 2001

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