Tackling transportation of oil and natural gas

How do engineers develop pipeline systems to transport oil and natural gas over long distances? Our Producing and Transporting unit addresses this topic. Huntington High School teacher Halle Minney attended last summer's STEM workshop and used the ONEI lessons to challenge her students to design a pipeline.

Students were put in groups, and each group designed their pipeline on graph paper after researching oil transport. With limited space in the classroom, the groups took the pipes, fittings, balls, and meter sticks outside to set up the pipelines according to the drawings.

The pipes presented some difficulties: they would either stick to the fittings and not release or not stay securely into the fitting. So, there was a learning curve to just trying out the materials. Students used a box in their design as an environmental feature to go around, under, or over. "Each day we discussed the STEM cycle and how we were incorporating this into our lab," Minney said. "Despite the challenges, the students enjoyed this activity!"

Use our free STEM and geology labs with your students!