Lesson 3: The Story of Gasoline
This lesson will ask students to examine the technology behind
the production of gasoline, along with the step-by-step process
by which it is delivered to consumers.
Time Required:
35 minutes
Materials Needed:
Reproducible Activity 3, The
Story of Gasoline (PDF)
Reproducible Answers:
The Story of Gasoline: a. 1; b. 4; c. 5; d. 9; e. 2; f. 6; g. 10;
h. 3; i. 8; j.7
Student Real-World Connections:
Students investigate the source and process behind the gasoline
that powers buses, trucks, and cars.
Engaging Your Students:
What's behind filling up your car at a gas pump? Behind this seemingly
simple act, kids will uncover a complex world of science, technology,
and transportation.
Getting Started
Look at the Background Information (scroll down below). Print
out Reproducible Activity #3, "The Story of Gasoline,"
and distribute it to students.
What Students Will Do:
• Begin
with the question: Where does gasoline come from? See how much
students know, or can guess, about the steps necessary to locate,
extract, produce, refine, and transport oil and natural gas to
the consumer.
• Next,
distribute the reproducible for students to complete on their
own or in small groups. They will read a series of statements
about the story of gasoline and put them in sequential order.
Students will learn how many steps are involved and how complicated
the process is for gasoline to get to the gas pump.
• When finished,
discuss: What did you learn about how gasoline is produced? Which
technological challenges might each step present?
Extension: The Price of Gasoline
Present students with this graph of gasoline prices.
Explain that prices on the graph are adjusted for inflation, i.e.,
they're shown as if the value of the dollar had always been the
same as it was in 2002. Ask: Which three elements make up the price
of gasoline? In general, how have each of these elements changed
in price between 1978 and 2002? How has the overall price of gasoline
changed? Why do you think this is true? What do you think may happen
to the price of gasoline in the future? Students may research factors
that affect gasoline prices and observe pump prices to try to draw
conclusions about why they change.
Background Information
For a more in-depth and interactive demonstration of some of the
high-tech steps outlined below, please visit Adventures
in Energy. Also refer to "The Story of Gasoline" reproducible
for helpful background information for this lesson.
The United States uses nearly 500 million barrels of crude oil
in a single month.1 Science and technology have transformed
the way we get oil. Instead of drilling many wells with the hope
of one well striking oil, geologists first look for areas where
rock conditions make oil possible: There must be "source rocks"
rich in hydrocarbons, permeable rock to store the reserves, and
impermeable rock to keep the oil from seeping away. Geologists make
conclusions after surveying the structure of the surface (either
from the ground or from planes, satellites, or ships). They then
use sonic waves and other technologies to help them "see"
underground. If there is a strong likelihood of an oil deposit,
geologists drill an exploration well.
Before drilling, workers level and clear the land and build roads
if necessary. They dig a pit to temporarily store rock removed from
the hole and line the pit with plastic to prevent contamination
of the surrounding ground and water. Workers set up a drilling derrick
to position and support the drill. Cone-shaped drill heads, made
of steel, diamond, or other materials, are dug into the ground enclosed
in a concrete pipe that holds the hole open. They fill the pipe
with "mud" made out of water, clay, and chemicals. In
addition to cooling the drill (which gets extremely hot due to friction)
and supporting the hole, this mud collects the rice-sized fragments
created by the drill. These fragments are pumped to the surface
along with the mud.
After the drilling equipment is removed, a pump begins to draw
up the oil. It may be necessary to drill a second hole and inject
water or steam to force up some of the oil. From the well, crude
oil is transported by pipelines and tankers to terminals or directly
to refineries where raw materials are converted into products we
use every day. Most of the products leaving a refinery—including
gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil, and kerosene—are transported
to regional distribution centers through underground pipelines.
Most refined products travel the final leg to market by truck.
Crude oil is made up of hydrocarbons, or long-chained molecules
containing hydrogen and carbon. Many types of fuel are refined from
crude oil: heating oil, propane, gasoline, jet fuel, diesel fuel,
and others. Each of these fuel types is comprised of a different
type of hydrocarbon chain. The first goal of refining is to separate
the different hydrocarbon chains, or types of fuel. Scientists take
advantage of the fact that these chains have different properties,
such as boiling points. Different boiling points allow workers to
separate the types of fuel by boiling them off, one by one, at increasingly
hot temperatures. Refiners can also break apart chains to convert
one hydrocarbon, such as diesel fuel, into a shorter chain such
as gasoline. Refiners also remove impurities from fuel. Refined
fuels are sent through underground pipelines one by one, with a
space to separate them, and stored at regional distribution centers
where they await pickup.
1. How Stuff Works, "How Oil Drilling Works,"
http://science.howstuffworks.com/oil-drilling.htm.
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