Oil spills cause devastation to the environment, killing sea life, birds, and coastal plants. Spraying areas of contamination with oil-eating microbes accelerates the degradation of the oil. This process is known as bioremediation. In this open-ended experiment, students grow a mixture of oil-eating bacteria and observe their effectiveness at degrading a variety of oils.

• For 10 lab groups
• After establishment of cultures, lab requires 50 minutes (can be done over several days or weeks)

Also required: Incubator, growth flasks, vegetable oil (or other food oils).