Oil Exploration Experiment for Kids

An Earth Science Actvity to Simulate How Fossil Fuels Are Found

Feb 24, 2009

It's intuitive for children to wonder how things work and why things are in nature. Encouraging this type of curiosity can create future earth scientists.

Fossil fuels, or hydrocarbons, are one of our most valuable natural resources. The formation of hydrocarbons is a process that takes many millions of years and occurs hundreds of feet below the surface of the earth. Because hydrocarbons are contained within subsurface geological formations, petroleum geologists have had to employ numerous techniques to find coal, oil and natural gas.

This earth science activity will help students to understand what techniques are used to find subsurface hydrocarbon formations and how the cost associated with oil exploration can quickly reach millions of dollars.

Modeling an Oil Reserve

Abundant hydrocarbon formations form in sedimentary basins, where the repeated burial and reburial of organic material by sand and mud creates an anaerobic environment. The materials needed to simulate this kind of environment and the oil exploration are:

Fill the bottom of the box with a layer of sand and then put a thin layer of aquarium pebbles over the sand - this simulates the bottom of your sedimentary basin. Next, place the partially filled water balloon on the thin layer of aquarium pebbles - this is your oil reserve. Do not place the balloon right in the middle of the box or the oil exploration activity will be too easy. Finish your sedimentary basin by pouring the aquarium pebbles over the water balloon, followed by the sand to be the top layer of your basin.

Place the cardboard top over your sedimentary basin - this simulates the ground rock on the surface that we walk around on - and tape it in place so that it does not move around. Now that the hydrocarbon formation and sedimentary basin are formed, it's time to start exploring for oil.

Simulating Oil Exploration

Spin the box around multiple times so that it is unclear where exactly the oil reserve is located inside the sedimentary basin. Next, place a piece of graph paper on top of the box and mark the four sides of the box "north", "south", "east" and "west". Tap on the top of the sedimentary basin and listen for any areas that sound different. This is a technique that petroleum geologists use to find hydrocarbon reserves - they shoot seismic signals into the basin and look for areas where the seismic waves "sound" different.

Mark the graph paper on top of the box with the location of areas that sound different and seem likely candidates for oil exploration. Use the kebab skewer to "drill" slowly into the top of the sedimentary basin while recording how deep the drill is going. Gently extract the drill and look for any signs that the oil reserve has been found. Once the oil reserve has been located, place the straw over the drill so that the contents of the oil reserve can be extracted.

The Cost of Oil Exploration

Keep a record of how many centimeters deep the drill goes into the basin and how many times the drill had to be moved. Every centimeter of drilling in the model represents a cost of about $150,000 in real-life oil exploration. Every time the the location of the drill has to be moved, it costs another $75,000.

American Geological Institute, The Pulse of Earth Science - Earth Science Activity Calendar, 2007

The copyright of the article Oil Exploration Experiment for Kids in Geology/Ecology is owned by Alexandra Matiella Novak. Permission to republish Oil Exploration Experiment for Kids in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.