Non-metals (carbon)

1. Starter - Mystery exercise

Required Resources

• Slides 2-3

Delivery

• Introducing the topic, show slides 2 and 3, which explain the events of the Kuwait oil fields being set alight and provides an image of the burning oil wells. Though there is an important historical context to these images and to the subsequent sequence of global events, you may wish to restrict discussion to the importance of oil, the economic influence of oil-producing relations and the vulnerability that countries dependent on oil have to oil prices.
• You should explain to students that setting fire to the oil well destroys or partially destroys the resource and simultaneously causes extensive pollution. Ask students to discuss the impacts that this may have on Kuwait.

Differentiation

Lower Ability:

You may wish to preface the slides with a brief classroom discussion of the ways in which oil is extracted and transported.

Higher Ability:

Students familiar with the process of fractional distillation should consider the by-products of burning hydrocarbons.