Title: Explain how oil was created and list its advantages and disadvantages.
Course: Energy and Power (20101-18) > Section: Exploring Sources of Energy

Explanation should include that prehistoric microorganisms decomposed and collected in deposits. Some migrated upward as liquid until it reached impervious rock and formed oil deposits.

The advantages of oil include its use in

- heating
- transportation
- production of some plastics.

The disadvantages of oil include that

- air pollution (e.g., gases formed)
- limitation in supply
- environmental threat (e.g., oil spill, plastics break down into microscopic pieces).

Process/Skill Questions:

- Where does the U.S. get its oil?
- What happens to oil after it leaves the well?
- How has oil become an environmental threat?