Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Children have questions too. WSRE, PBS on the Gulf Coast, has created a web page of resources to provide parents and teachers with information they can use to help children understand the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Crisis. Visit the Teachers, Parents and Kids Section on wsre.org/OilSpill for special information including terminology that kids are [...]

Pelican’s Nest Science Lab – Down By the Bay
Kindergarten-Fifth Grade Classes in Baldwin County have participated in field experiences at the Fairhope beach and seen or collected these plants and animals.  All of the organism the students have seen will be affected by the oil if it reaches their habitat.
Spring 2010
Birds

Brown pelican
Blue heron
Hooded merganser [...]

NASA has posted a high resolution image of the oil in spill in the Gulf:

From the Google Earth Blog:
Here is the updated KML file (with both images included), or you can view the high-res JPG (via NASA).  You can view an animation of it here. And you can now access the [...]

Volunteers are picking up litter along the beaches and coastlines again this afternoon. More info is available from the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program.
If you are interested in volunteering to reduce the impacts of the oil spill to our Bay, please call Alabama 211 at 1-866-421-1266 or click here to be included on our [...]

The NY Times has an interactive simulation that shows the spread of the oil spill.  The map highlights oyster beds, march lands and critical areas for wildlife.  Click the play button to put the map in motion.
Tracking the Oil Spill
Other news sources have similar features:
USA Today: Oil Spill Growing in the Gulf
CNN: Tracking the Oil [...]

Another article from HowStuffWorks.com explains how an oil spill can be cleaned up.  While focusing mainly on the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, the information can be related to the disaster in the Gulf.  Be sure to check out the oil field photo gallery and the Legacy of an Oil Spill video.
How do you clean [...]

BP’s website explains their ongoing response to the oil spill.  With sections for videos and images students and teachers can learn what BP is doing to deal with this disaster.  Response maps show changing plans for laying out the booms
BP’s Gulf of Mexico Response

National Geographic Expeditions provides a lesson plan that allows students to experience the effects of an oil spill first hand:
In this lesson, students will explore the causes and effects of events such as oil spills and contaminations. They will then experience first-hand the feel of oil spills, determine an environmental problem [...]

HowStuffWorks.com provides an overview of how oil drilling works.  Teachers can use this resource with students to build background knowledge about the oil spill.  In addition to a general introduction, the article covers topis such as locating oil, rig systems, the oil drilling process and how oil is extracted.
It also includes interesting images and a [...]