LFSC 619B: Environmental Chemistry


Course Objective:
This course will deepen your understanding of the chemistry of our environment. You will apply fundamental chemistry principles to environmental topics like greenhouse gases, acid rain and recycling. The course is structured such that your independent research and discussions with classmates will help build your understanding of environmental chemistry and make you a more aware consumer and citizen.

Assignments

Discussions:
For each of the eleven topics listed on the syllabus, you will be asked to research small aspects of the topic and share your findings on the course discussion board. Additionally, you will be responsible for reading the posts of your classmates and submitting your comments and questions to them. For each satisfactory post, you will earn 3 pts to a maximum of 30 pts.
News about the environment:
During the course, you should keep up with breaking news about the environment. Select an article that you think would interest your students and create a one-page summary that highlights the chemistry in the article. The summary should be written for high school students and should contain two or three discussion questions. We will post the summaries on Blackboard and encourage their use in classrooms.

Written Assignments:
There will be three written assignments, approximately 3-4 pages in length, on provided topics. You will research the topic, thereby familiarizing yourself with recent scientific journals. You will extract relevant information and use it to write appropriate chemical equations and do chemical calculations. You will practice writing about chemical phenomenon by describing your research findings and assembling it into a descriptive summary or a persuasive argument.

Teaching Innovation Projects (TIPs):
TIPs are group projects where themes from this course are developed into presentations appropriate for a middle or high school classroom. This is a wonderful opportunity to practice explaining an aspect of environmental chemistry. Additionally, you could immediately turn around and use it in your classroom.

Final Research Paper:
The final paper will be a more thorough investigation of an environmental chemistry topic. This is a terrific chance for you to learn more about a developing problem or to probe possible solutions. Your topic must be submitted to the instructor by the 9th week of the course. This ten-page document should include references to all primary resources


Grading Points
Discussion postings (10 of 11) 30 pts
News summaries (3) 45 pts
Written Assignments (3) 60 pts
Teaching Innovation Projects (3) 75 pts
Final Paper 60 pts
TOTAL 270 pts

COURSE OUTLINE

Air: Weeks 1-5
Unit 1. Ozone layer
Review: gas laws, inorganic nomenclature, electromagnetic spectrum, wavelength, frequency, steady-state approximation
a) Chemistry of the ozone layer
b) Catalytic ozone depletion
c) The ozone hole
d) Photochemical smog
Sample discussion topic: Major cities issue alerts for high ozone levels and caution citizens against intense exercise on these days. Research the level of ozone that must be present for a code red and a code orange. Why do these alerts only occur in the summertime? If you were in charge of re-evaluating the ozone alert system, how would you change it? Why?

Unit 2. Combustion
Review: balancing equations, enthalpy calculations
a) Coal
b) Petroleum
c) Alternative fuels
d) Hydrogen

Unit 3. Greenhouse Gases
Review: molecular vibrations, spectroscopy
a) Mechanism of the greenhouse effect
b) Greenhouse gases
c) Aerosols
d) Global warming


Sample Writing A ssignment:
Compare the carbon footprint of automobiles using traditional unleaded fuel, E85 fuel, diesel fuel and gas/hybrid electric engine, when driven 100 miles. Pick a specific automobile for each type and provide balanced equations and calculations to support your conclusions. Explain how these results fit or defied your expectations.

Unit 4. Renewable Energy
a) Wind power
b) Hydroelectric power
c) Solar panels
Water: Weeks 6-8

Unit 5. Acid rain
Review: Ka, pH, redox half reactions
a) Acid rain formation
b) Consequences of acid rain

Unit 6. Water pollutants
Review: organic nomenclature
a) Pesticides and insecticides
b) DDT
c) Organochlorines
d) Integrated pest management
e) Herbicides
f) Toxic organic compounds

Unit 7. Water treatment and purification
a) Chemical and physical processes
b) Water softeners
c) Heavy metals and trihalomethanes

Solids: Weeks 9-11

Unit 8. Recycling
Review: polymers
a) Metal
b) Glass
c) Paper
d) Plastics
Sample Writing Assignment: Research the carbon footprint for the creation of 10 plastic grocery bags and 10 paper grocery bags. You may do the comparison on virgin or recycled bags, or both. Use your research to persuade your reader to use the bag with the smallest environmental impact.

Unit 9. Solid Waste Disposal
a) Incineration
b) Landfills
i) Polymer liners
ii) Methane gas release

Unit 10. Nuclear Power and Waste
Review: half-life calculations
a) Radon
b) Uranium
c) Chernobyl
d) Three Mile Island
e) Future of nuclear power