Science / All lessons / Energy and Earth Resources
Pores, gaps and the oil and water in them.
Try this first
Today’s story
Think of a bucket of sand and a bucket of marbles. Pour water in. Water fills the spaces between the sand grains.
Rocks can have tiny gaps called pores. Sandstone and limestone often do. Oil, natural gas and water can fill those pores deep underground.
Other rocks, like shale, have few connected pores. They block the flow. Together these rocks trap the resource. Follow the steps.
See it
Hands on
Watch for: Gravel and sand hold water and let it move. Clay soil holds some but lets little through.
Same every time
Gaps are the storage.
Wells reach the fluid that flows.
It acts like a lid.
Grandpa Fenn’s notebook
Poppy’s quiz
Tap an answer. Green means right. You will see why.
Talk about it
The Ogallala Aquifer under the Texas Panhandle stores water in sand and gravel.
A hydrogeologist finds underground water.
