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Your group members: _____________________
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Tracking plant health using visible and
infrared light
PART 1: WETLANDS, WATER, & OIL
Over the next four weeks, we will investigate the efficacy of tracking plant health using infrared light
(a form of light invisible to the human eye) and visible light. In today’s activity we will touch on three
topics: 1) plants, 2) the ecosystems they hold together, and 3) why we might want to track their health
through photography. In future weeks we will examine types of light, how the human eye sees light,
how we translate images of invisible types of light into images people can see, and how we interpret
those images to understand plant health.
Our case study for plant health is coastal wetlands in the Gulf of Mexico, and the different human
choices that help both destroy and rebuild these areas.
PRE-ACTIVITY QUESTIONS
Question 1: What are wetlands?
Question 2: Where are wetlands located?
Question 3: What types of life are found in wetlands?
I. WETLANDS PURPOSE MODEL (with your group)
Materials
 Small plastic container
 Clay
 Sticks, dirt, oil, and food coloring to represent pollution
 Spray bottle with water
 Sponges
Build a model of the coast without wetlands: Place clay all the way against one side of the container
sloping down toward the middle of the container. The higher side will represent the land. Add rivers,
lakes, or hills to the land. The lower side will represent the ocean. In this first model, we are building
Louisiana’s coast without any wetlands.
Louisiana’s southern coast contains nearly half of all the wetlands in the lower 48 states. This is
because Louisiana is located in the spot where the Mississippi river drains into the Gulf of Mexico. As
the river drains, it brings mud and sediment with it that build up the wetlands. We’re going to
examine why these wetlands are so important by first seeing what happens without them.
Pour a small amount of water (no more than ½ “) into the model. Add a few pieces of debris (sticks,
dirt, food coloring) to the land; in our model, these will represent types of pollution that might affect
terrestrial environments (e.g., trash, oil and chemical runoff). Add approximately a teaspoon of oil to
the water; this will represent how pollutants can come from the sea as well (i.e., oil and chemical
runoff)
Question 4: What do you think will happen to these pollutants? Will they stay where
they originated (i.e., on land or in the sea)?
Using a spray bottle with water, make it “rain” onto the land. Gently rock the container back and forth
to simulate the waves and tides of the ocean. Note how pollution on land runs into the ocean, and oil
from the ocean contaminates the land.
Now create one larger wave in your model by quickly moving the container once from side to side.
Notice what happens when the wave hits the land.
Question 5: What would happen to houses and roads that were on that land?
Next, you will repeat the same experiments but using a model that has land, ocean, and the wetlands
of Louisiana.
Dump out the water from your model and, using a small ball of clay, stick a piece of sponge to the area
between the land and the ocean in your model. This sponge represents the wetlands. Make sure the
entire “coast” is lined with a sponge.
Again, add approximately ½” of water to your model. Now add pollution to both the land and the sea,
and then spray with water and gently rock to create waves.
Question 6: What is the effect of the wetlands on the spreading of the pollutants?
Once again create a big wave and observe how it hits the land.
Question 7: How do the wetlands affect the impact of the wave on the land?
In addition to being a home for plants and wildlife, including many endangered species, the wetlands
play a very important role in filtering out pollution and protecting the coast from flooding. Wetlands
absorb many of the large waves caused by hurricanes making them vital to the inhabitants along the
coast.
II. WETLANDS DESTRUCTION MODEL (all-class demonstration)
We know that the wetlands are important in many ways- they are home to many types of wildlife, they
protect the coast from large waves, and they help filter the water, keeping our ocean clean. However,
wetlands are being destroyed in many ways. An average of about 35 square miles of wetlands has
disappeared every year over the last 50 years.
Question 8: Why do you think wetlands are disappearing?
We are going to examine some of the ways the wetlands are being destroyed using this model.
Question 9: What do you think will happen when waves come in to our wetland area?
One of the largest reasons Louisiana’s wetlands are disappearing is due to canal cutting and dredging.
Thousands of miles of canals have been cut through the wetlands so that ships can move through the
area. Many of the canals are cut by oil and gas companies to lay pipeline and access drilling sites.
Another cause of wetlands loss is a process called subsidence, which is the gradual sinking of an area.
As oil and gas are removed from deep below the surface of the wetlands, the land above it begins to
sink.
III. NEWS ARTICLE READINGS (with your group)
Material
 Your assigned article
Recently, the Gulf of Mexico was flooded with oil during the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Question 10: In the space below, summarize all that you know about oil spills in the
ocean.
Question 11: Approximately how many gallons of oil were spilled in the Deepwater
Horizon spill?
Background information about the Deepwater Horizon disaster:
 On April 20, 2010, an oil-drilling rig named the Deepwater Horizon exploded and caused a well
deep below the surface of the ocean to begin leaking.
 The leak lasted for nearly 3 months before it could be stopped.
 An estimated 200 million gallons of crude oil were released into the Gulf of Mexico.
 Nearly 2 million gallons of dispersants (chemicals to break up the oil) were used to attempt to
control the oil spill
 The spill affected 16,000 miles of coastline.
Question 12: What types of impacts do you think resulted from this oil spill?
Read your assigned article, and then discuss it with your group members.
Question 13: Based on your reading, what were three impacts of the oil spill?
Impact 1:
Impact 2:
Impact 3:
IV. OIL CLEAN UP (with your group)
Materials per group
 Aluminum pie tin (to hold “ocean”)
 Oil with a few drops of food coloring
 Dish washing detergent
 Oil-containing materials such as cotton balls, coffee filters, spoons, pipe cleaners, straws,
sponges, string
In this activity, we will be exploring the methods of cleaning an oil spill. Each group will receive a
container with water (the ocean), and an oil spill.
Question 14: Using the materials provided, how could we clean the oil from the ocean?
How effective do you think our methods will be?
Add around a teaspoon of the oil spill to your container. In our model, the food coloring in the oil
represents the many chemicals within crude oil.
The edges of your container represent the land surrounding the Gulf of Mexico. In order to minimize
the damage from the oil spill, don’t let the oil touch the edges of your container!
Using the provided oil-containing materials (cotton balls, coffee filters, spoons, pipe cleaners, straws,
sponges, string) to develop an effective method for containing/removing/cleaning up the oil spill,
trying at least three different methods before settling on a “best method.”
Question 15: Describe three methods you tried, and rate the effectiveness of each on a
scale from 1-5 (5 being most effective, 1 being least effective).
Method 1 and its effectiveness:
Method 2 and its effectiveness:
Method 3 and its effectiveness:
Have a discussion with each of the groups, comparing and contrasting your methods with theirs.
Question 16: Having discussed with other groups, what methods of oil removal and
containment appear to work best? Explain.
Question 17: What methods did not work well? Explain.
Question 18: How easy is it to keep the oil from the sides of the container? Would it be
as easy in an ocean?
We mentioned earlier how millions of gallons of dispersant were used in the Deepwater Horizon spill.
Dispersants are chemicals used to break up oil into very small particles, which will then be dispersed
by waves or wind. Try using a drop or two of the dispersant (dishwashing detergent) to see how it
affects the oil.
Question 19: What happened when you added the dispersant?
Question 20: How successful were you at cleaning the oil spill from your container?
Question 21: What differences would we see when cleaning crude oil from a real ocean?
Question 22: Based on your observations, how effective do you think the clean up
efforts in the Gulf were?
The types of materials you used for the clean up are not unlike the materials used to clean real oil
spills such as booms, absorbents, and skimmers. While some methods may be more effective than
others, no method was able to remove all of the oil from the Gulf of Mexico.
V. OIL EFFECTS (with your group)
Materials per group
 small bowl or cup with dyed water
 two strips of paper towel
 a few drops of oil
Next, we will observe what happens when the oil like that that spilled in the Deepwater Horizon
disaster coats the plants in the wetlands. Plants depend on a process called evapotranspiration to
survive, which is a combination of both evaporation and transpiration. Water vapor evaporates from
the stomata (or pores) in the leaves of the plant, which causes transpiration, the movement of water
through the plant. When the stomata are clogged with oil, this gas exchange is blocked and plants die.
We are going to see how this process works and how the oil affects the evapotranspiration.
Coat the bottom of one paper towel strip with a few drops of oil. This will represent the stomata
covered in oil. Place both strips of paper into the water making sure only the ends of the strips touch
the water. After a few seconds, you will notice the strip of paper without the oil will have water
climbing up it. The strip with the oil on the bottom will not. This represents how evapotranspiration is
blocked when the plant’s stomata are clogged with oil.
Question 23: What did you observe?
Question 24: Where is the water on each strip?
Question 25: What would happen to plants covered in oil like the paper towel that was
covered in oil?
As oil coats the plants and clogs their stomata, the plants (and their roots) die, which further
contributes to wetlands loss.
VI. PLANTING SEEDS (individually)
Materials per student
 two fava, lima, or similar beans
 two paper towels
 two Ziplock bags
Finally, we will be sprouting a seed so that it can begin growing over the next few weeks. In a future
lesson, we will make changes that cause some of these plants to be unhealthy and some to remain
healthy. Then we will learn how to tell the difference between the two.
Dampen the paper towel and place it in the Ziplock bag next to the beans. Leave this bag in the
designated spot in the classroom. Over the next few weeks, you’ll need to make sure the paper towel
remains damp but not soaked as the bean begins to sprout and grow.
VII. WRAP UP
Question 26: Why are wetlands important?
Question 27: What is happening to the wetlands of Louisiana today?
Question 28: What are some of the effects of drilling along the Gulf Coast?
VIII. FEEDBACK
Question 29: What portion(s) of this activity did you find most engaging/informative?
Question 30: What portion(s) of this activity did you find to be problematic/not
engaging/uninformative?
VOCABULARY
Subsidence: The gradual caving in or sinking of an area of land.
Wetlands: Saturated land such as marshes, swamps, and bogs.
Booms: Floating barriers used to contain oil spills.
Skimmers: A machine the removes oil floating on top of water.
Absorbents: Materials used to absorb oil.
Dispersants: A chemical that breaks up oil spilled in water into small particles that can be
dispersed by waves and wind.
Dredging: Cleaning out an area of water by scooping our mud, plants, and other material with
a dredge.
Evapotranspiration: The process by which water is transferred from the land to the
atmosphere by evaporation from the soil and other surfaces and by transpiration from plants.
Stomata: Pores, found in the epidermis of leaves, stems and other organs that are used to
control gas exchange.