This activity guides the analysis of a published scientific figure from a study that monitored the microbial community before, during, and after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon drilling unit exploded, releasing up to 70,000 barrels of oil and natural gas per day into the Gulf of Mexico until June 4. Oil and natural gas are primarily composed of hydrocarbons, which stimulate the growth of naturally occuring bacteria. These bacteria degrade the hydrocarbons into smaller molecules, which, in turn, feed other microbe communities. The figure shows the different bacterial taxa that were enriched by the oil spill over time. The green dashed line indicates when the oil leak was partially reduced, and the blue line indicates when the leak was completely stopped.

The “Educator Materials” document includes a captioned figure, background information, graph interpretation, and discussion questions. The “Student Handout” includes a captioned figure and background information.