BY:DOROTHY PERELMAN 7A

Way beneath the floor of the ocean there is methane which is a type of gas. The BP oil spill occurred when a bubble of methane escaped from an oil well and started to spread very quickly. It then caught fire and exploded. The explosion killed 11 workers and hurt 17 others. It also started the oil spill. A safety valve was supposed to stop the oil but it didn’t work. This is all according to the workers that were working there and scientists who looked at what happened after this event took place. Before the BP oil spill happened a group of BP executives were on the boat. They were celebrating the safety of this project. But at any time they could hit that gas. This is always a danger when drilling for oil. The methane bubble came up through the drill column from the high pressure of the container and the deep water. The bubble got bigger and broke through the container and caused an explosion. And therefore this is what caused this big oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

To help stop the oil spill people were trying to do many things. Four underwater vehicles were sent to try to stop the flow of oil. But there were at least three leaks which was giving around 200,000 gallons of oil each day. The oil spread very quickly. Since even a little bit of oil covers a big surface of the water, it started spreading everywhere. Engineers tried building a giant cap that could be put over the leaks to trap the oil. This allowed it to be put in a container that was brought to the surface. This operation was expected to take two-four weeks. It took longer but eventually a cap was put on the leak on about 3 months after it started.

To clean up the oil people tried to do many things. More than 1,000 people were working on the cleanup. Helping them were many ships and several aircraft. The aircrafts were dragging long nets to take away the oil on the surface. The planes were also spraying a chemical that could separate the oil from the water. They were hoping that the oil would then dissolve or disappear. The coast guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry said "Our response plan is focused on quickly securing the source of the subsurface oil emanating from the well, cleaning the oil on the surface of the water and keeping the response well offshore”. People were also helping animals such as birds and fish who were hurt by the oil. These are the things workers were doing to try and clean up this oil spill.

The oil spill impacted the environment in many ways. One of the ways was that when a bird or mammal touched the surface of the water the oil would get in to their feathers or fur. If oil gets into a birds feathers then it will not be able to fly. Also when oil is on the surface of the water it blocks the sunlight. If there is no sunlight then the plants in the water can’t grow. And if they can not grow then the fish can not eat and therefore the fish will die. The oil is bad for the air around us. If an animal or human gets oil in their mouth, or accidentally swallow it, then they will get very sick. These are all ways oil can impact the environment.

The oil spill relates to the Health and Social education because we learn about what is happening in the world. Also the oil is not good for the health of humans and animals since it can make them sick or even kill them. For social education what’s happening in the world is very important to know and learn about. It is good to be aware of what is going on and you might be able to help. These are all reasons I think that this oil spill connects with health and social education.

Many birds have been saved from the oil spill. One of those birds was named Todd. Todd was caught in the oil spill and the cleaners found him and took him out of the oil. They washed all the oil off of him. Now Todd is happy and is lucky to still be alive.