Lesson plan: Ecological impact of Galápagos oil spill

January 22, 2001
Web posted at: 4:29 PM EST (2129 GMT)

Editor's note: If you are planning to use the news story that this lesson plan is based on for a homework assignment, please write the URL on the board and have your students copy it. CNNfyi.com updates the site in the early evening, so students may have difficulty finding it without the URL. You can find the lesson plan by going to the Subject Areas page and clicking PREVIOUS in the square for Today's Lesson Plan.

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Explain the oil spill in the Galápagos Islands
• Identify ecological effects of the oil spill.

Standards

National Science Education Standards
Life science, Content standard C, grades nine-12

High school students should know that human beings live within the world's ecosystems. Increasingly, humans modify ecosystems as a result of population growth, technology and consumption. Human destruction of habitats through direct harvesting, pollution, atmospheric changes and other factors is threatening global stability, and if not addressed, ecosystems will be irreversibly affected.

Materials

CNNfyi.com article, "Oil spill threatens rare Galápagos Islands species"
Internet access
World map

Suggested time

One class period

Procedures

1. Ask students if they have ever heard or read about the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989, when an oil tanker went aground on a reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound. Discuss the disaster's effects on the thousands of birds, sea mammals and fisheries in the area.

2. Locate the Galápagos Islands on a world map.

3. After students have read the CNNfyi.com article "Oil spill threatens rare Galápagos Islands species," ask the following:

• Why are the Galápagos Islands famous? What happened that threatens the unique species on the Galápagos?
• How large is the oil spill? Who is helping clean up the spill? Why is it important to the fishermen to help clean up the oil spill?
• Why is the tanker Jessica continuing to leak oil?
• Why do think Ecuador declared 97 percent of the land a national park in 1959? Why do you think Ecuadoran officials are in such a hurry to clean up the oil spill?

4. Allow students to arrange themselves in groups of four to five classmates and to research the Internet for the effects of oil spills on the ecological balance. Direct them to sites below and ask them to apply these effects to populations of brown pelicans and other wildlife endangered by spills.

Assessment

Based on their findings about the effects of oil spills on the ecological balance, have students explain natural processes encountered within healthy ecological systems and the disruptions they experience when confronted with a man-made disaster. Direct them to use visual aids or graphic programs to present their findings to the class.

Accommodation

Logical/mathematical: Have each student identify a minimum of 10 species affected by the Ecuadoran oil spill.

Challenge

Students can conduct further research to understand and explain the business of oil spill prevention and/or cleanup. Have students create a bar graph of oil spills and the number of gallons of fuel that contaminated the water.

Spills: Worldwide Tanker Spill Database
What's the story on oil spills?
Response management
Oil spill prevention and response
Marine oil spills
Galapagos.com
Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)
National Geographic expeditions
Ecuador

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