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Published byCharlotte Lawson Modified over 9 years ago
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Teaching First Year Chemistry Dr. Kim Bolton, School of Environmental Sciences
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Soil and Water Chemist My First Year Experience Environmental Chemistry I and II Equivalent to standard two term 1 st year chemistry course Environmental chemistry examples (acid rain, ozone depletion, photochemical smog, etc.) Lectures/labs Course no longer exists My Background
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My First Year Experience Introductory Chemistry Equivalent to grade 12 chemistry Distance education format No labs Chemistry Today Chemistry for non-science students (Hotel and Food Administration) No labs My Background
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Text: Introduction to Environmental Chemistry, Nigel Bunce Objectives Introduction to chemical principles which govern chemical reactions in the environment Introduction to some specific problems in environmental chemistry Environmental Chemistry I and II Part IPart II StoichiometryAcids and Bases Energetics in Chemical Reactions: Enthalpy Solubility Equilibria Gases and the AtmosphereAcid Rain KineticsEnergetics in Chemical Reactions: Free Energy Gaseous EquilibriaStratospheric Ozone Depletion WaterElectrochemistry Metals and Mining
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Ways to engage students Use of quantitative environmental examples: Stoichiometry; eg) Calculate the maximum yield of sulphuric acid produced from 125 tonnes of pyrite. Thermochemistry; eg) Calculate the mass of methane that must be burned to heat a typical house in S. Ontario on a winter day when the total heat requirement is 6.7 x 10 5 kJ Photochemistry; eg) The C-Cl bond has bond dissociation energy 330 kJ mol -1, while CFCl 3 absorbs radiation having λ < 220 nm. Will CFCl 3 undergo bond cleavage in the lower atmosphere? Environmental Chemistry I and II
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Ways to engage students Use of quantitative environmental examples: Kinetics; eg) The degradation of the pesticide fenvalerate in the envionment is found to be first order with k = 3.9 x 10 -7 s -1. An accidental discharge of 100 kg of fenvalerate into a holding pond results in a fenvalerate concentration of 1.3 x 10 -5 mol L -1. Calculate the concentration left after one month. How long before the fenvalerate concentration in the pond reaches 1 μM? Free Energy; eg) Calculate the equilibrium constant for 3/2 O 2(g) ↔ O 3(g) and estimate O 3 content in stratosphere. (then compare to actual content). Environmental Chemistry I and II
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Ways to engage students Specific Environmental Topics: Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change Photochemical Smog and Ground Level Ozone Water Hardness and Water Softening Laboratory; water hardness by titration with standard EDTA Biological Oxygen Demand (sewage and industrial waste water) Phosphate removal from sewage Acid Mine Drainage “Stories” Solubility; eg) Why do walls of the Welland Canal crumble? (CaSO 4 H 2 O solubility) Metal toxicity; Copper complexation story Environmental Chemistry I and II
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Text: Chemistry in Focus, Nivaldo Tro (Brooks/Cole) First half of course addresses general chemistry principles: Atoms and Elements Compounds and Chemical Reactions (a little stoichiometry) Chemical Bonding (Lewis structures) Organic Chemistry Acids and Bases Second half examine some applications: Household Chemicals Biochemistry and Pharmaceuticals Chemistry of Food Chemistry of the Environment Chemistry Today
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Way to engage students Group Project - groups assigned "mystery ingredient list“ Required to produce report should be informative and should be written for the general public for a popular science or health magazine. Chemistry Today
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Both Distance Education Courses Way to engage students OWL Homework (Cengage) Introductory Chemistry and Chemistry Today
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Student preparation quite variable Strengths Confidence Willingness to ask for help Weaknesses Math!! (basic algebra; dimensional analysis) Problem solving skills Fear (and loathing) of chemistry General 1 st year issues Maturity Time management 1 st year students
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