Designing Environmental Solutions

Students should work with their partners to answer the following questions. Both partners should write the answers in their technology notebooks. You may wish to discuss some of the questions as a class, after students have had time to answer. Alternatively, you might wish to make groups of four who can then discuss their answers.

1. The Oil Spill Technologies simulation is a model for a real oil spill cleanup.

   1. How do you think this model is similar to a real oil spill cleanup?

      It is similar when it shows oil spreading out when dispersed and the black shadow beneath the spill decreasing in darkness when oil is removed. Also, the simulation represents realistic constraints such as distance to shore, type of oil, and size of spill.

   2. How do you think this model is different from a real oil spill cleanup?

      The simulation is different from a real oil spill when the simulation stops at the shore and does not include weather or ocean currents. Other examples are possible.

   3. What are the advantages of using a simulator?

      Simulations are much cheaper to use than collecting field data because field work requires a lot of time and materials. Also, many more situations can be investigated with a simulation than with field testing.

   4. What are the limitations of using a simulator?

      Data used to drive the simulation must be accurate. If not, the results will be flawed. Also, the simulation does not account for all naturally occurring events. Thus, it is only an estimate.

2. You revised statements in Step 4. You did not have to write the statements by yourself.
   1. How did finding mistakes help you make sense of the simulation?

      Finding mistakes in work is easier than making up the complete answer from scratch. So if part of making sense is first deciding on the right concept to use, finding mistakes makes that easier because the mistake at least reminds you of the concept to use. If the mistake uses the wrong concept, it at least gives me a hint that I need to find the correct concept before going forward.

   2. How did correcting mistakes help you make sense of the simulation?

      Once I know the correct concept, I can think about the trend or principle I should apply. I can focus on the relationship between variables, which leads me to making sense of the trend or principle involved. That way I can apply the concept to the specific problem and hopefully come up with the correct answer.

3. What constraints does this simulation model? Explain what makes them constraints.

   The constraints this simulation models are the type of oil, size of spill, and distance to shore of the original spill. These are constraints because they each move any solution in a particular direction that often excludes other solutions. For example, spills far from the coast might be best treated with bioremediation because that method takes longer to work and the distance to shore gives engineers extra time.

4. Pretend you are a software engineer selling this simulation to a huge oil company. Outline your presentation by

   1. providing a numbered list of talking points for your sales pitch

      You might have to help students get started. This depends on their background experiences. You can help by getting them to think about business situations with which they have familiarity. For example, they might have sold coupon books or Girl Scout cookies to raise money. Help them link what they did to make a sale in these situations to making a sale in this situation. Some sample talking points:

      • Greet people by name.

      • State the goal of the presentation: show how our simulation benefits their company.

      • Give overview of the simulation: show how drop-down menus provide a realistic set of constraints.

      • Describe simulation output: show how the simulation models oil slick size and shade with each technology and set of constraints; show time output; show cost output.

      • Show data for how much it costs to collect and evaluate field data.

      • Compare field costs to simulation costs.

   2. showing sketches of any visual aids you will use.

      Students' answers will vary, but all answers should show a few sketches. Usually these sketches will be of the computer screen, but graphs of cost data that compare field costs with simulation costs would be effective. The idea is to get students thinking about using multiple forms of representation in order to make a convincing argument.