A. Materials
B. Procedure

Materials
•    Seawater, taken from Jericho Beach, Vancouver.  
•    Clean plastic jugs for collecting seawater
•    745 ml plastic containers with lids
•    Measuring cups, spoons, paper towels.
•    Graduated cylinders
•    Plastic straws, bicycle pump for aeration
•    Canola oil.  I used this instead of motor oil because it is nontoxic.
•    Scale accurate to 0.01 grams

Experiment 1: Elements

Products	%   Nitrogen	%Phosphorus(P2O5)	% Potash (K2O)
Vigoro Lawn Fertilizer	24	3	5
Home Gardner Tree & Shrub	10	4	8
Greenleaf Evergreen Food	10	5	5

 

Experiments 2 to 10: Elements

Element	Form
Potassium	Gluconate (50 mg)
Magnesium	Mixed (100 mg)
Calcium	Mixed (650 mg)
Iron	Gluconate (50 mg.)
Sodium Chloride	Table Salt
Zinc	Gluconate (50 mg.)
Selenium	Yeast (200 mcg.)
Chromium	Vegetable protein chelate (200 mcg.)
Sulfur	MSM (1000 mg.)

Return to top

 Procedure
A.  Preparation: Experiment to Identify Best Method of Oil Recovery
    Critical to the success of the project was accurately measuring the amount of oil recovered.  Prior to beginning the project, therefore, I set up a simple experiment to determine the best way to recover oil.  Using four containers, I placed 25 mL (23g) of oil into 250 mL water.  I recovered the oil using these methods:

1.    Freezing the sample for 14 hours, then pouring the oil off the frozen water.  Any excess was recovered by using a paper towel to wipe the oil.  This method recovered 85.04% of the oil.
2.    Refrigerating the oil for two hours, then filtering the oil and water through a coffee filter.  As the oil chilled, its viscosity increased and molecules were unable to pass through the filter.  This method recovered 73.74% of the oil.
3.    Piping the oil directly from the top of the sample.  This method proved ineffective because I discovered that I took in water with the oil.
4.    Placing oil absorbent fabric on top of the sample recovered 84.87% of the oil.

                              Based on these results, I decided to freeze the oil, collect it, weigh it, and then subtract the weight of the container and paper towels to arrive at the final result.

B.  Procedure for All Experiments
1.    Label containers, including Control. 
2.   Measure 250 mL of seawater and 25 mL of oil into each one.
3.   Crush elements being used.
4.   Measure and add appropriate amount of elements already tested.
5.   Measure and add amounts of the element being tested.
6.   Put cover on and shake for 30 seconds.  Repeat for all containers.
7.   Put straws into each container.
8.   Move containers to same location.
9.   Aerate the containers on the fourth day by pumping air into the straws with a
        bicycle pump. 
10. At the end of the 7-day period, filter the contents of each sample through a piece of cheesecloth.
11.  Leave samples for 12 hours, allowing the oil and water to separate.
12. After 12 hours, move the samples to the freezer. 
13.  Freeze for at least eight hours.
14.  Remove samples, pour oil off the frozen water.
15.   Wipe excess oil off the frozen water with a paper towel.
16.  Weigh the recovered oil and paper towel on the scale and record.
17.   Subtract container and towel weight.
18.  Repeat for each container.
19. Average the results of the four trials.  The amount where the most remediation
        occurred is then used in every experiment thereafter.

Experiment 1

Manipulated Variable:  Product type.
Constants:  Seawater, oil, containers, time—7 days, daylight, northern exposure, temperature.
Responding Variable: Oil recovered (grams).
Control:  No fertilizer product added.  Each trial had its own Control.

Experiment	Sample 1	Sample 2	Sample 3	# of Trials
1	Evergreen 1.0	Tree 1.0	Lawn 0.5	2
2	Evergreen 2.0	Tree 2.0	Lawn 1.0	2
3	Evergreen 3.0	Tree 3.0	Lawn 1.5	2
4	Evergreen 2.0	Tree 2.0	Lawn 2.0	2
5	Evergreen 4.0	Tree 4.0	Lawn 4.0	2
6	Evergreen 6.0	Tree 6.0	Lawn 6.0	2
7	Evergreen 8.0	Tree 8.0	Lawn 8.0	2

Experiments 2 to 10

Manipulated Variable:  The quantity of the element.
Constants:  Same as above.
Responding Variable: Oil recovered (grams).
Control:  See Below.

Experiment	Element	Amounts (grams)	Trials	Control
2	Potassium	1.5, 1.8, 2.1, 2.4, 2.7, 3.0	7	N, P, K (Lawn fert.)
3	Magnesium	0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75	4/5	N,P,K
4	Calcium	0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25, 1.50	4	N, P, K, Mg
5	Sodium Chloride	0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25, 1.5	4	N, P, K, Mg, Ca
6	Iron	0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25, 0.30	6	N, P, K, Mg, Ca, NaCl
7	Zinc	0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25, 0.30	4	N, P, K, Mg, Ca, NaCl, Fe
8	Selenium	0.0002, 0.0004, 0.0006, 0.0008, 0.0010, 0.0012	4	N, P, K, Mg, Ca, NaCl, Fe, Zn
9	Chromium	0.0002, 0.0004, 0.0006, 0.0008, 0.0010, 0.0012	4	N, P, K, Mg, Ca, NaCl, Fe, Zn
10	Sulfur	1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5	4	N, P, K, Mg, Ca, NaCl, Fe, Zn

Return to top