Teaching First Year ChemistryDr. Kim Bolton, School of Environmental Sciences

Soil and Water Chemist

My First Year Experience Environmental Chemistry I and II

Equivalent to standard two term 1st year chemistry course Environmental chemistry examples (acid rain, ozone depletion,

photochemical smog, etc.) Lectures/labs Course no longer exists

My Background

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

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 I Part II

Stoichiometry Acids and Bases

Energetics in Chemical Reactions: Enthalpy

Solubility Equilibria

Gases and the Atmosphere Acid Rain

Kinetics Energetics in Chemical Reactions: Free Energy

Gaseous Equilibria Stratospheric Ozone Depletion

Water Electrochemistry

Metals and Mining

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 105 kJ

Photochemistry; eg) The C-Cl bond has bond dissociation energy 330 kJ mol-1, while CFCl3 absorbs radiation having λ < 220 nm. Will CFCl3 undergo bond cleavage in the lower atmosphere?

Environmental Chemistry I and II

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 for3/2 O2(g) ↔ O3(g)

and estimate O3 content in stratosphere. (then compare to actual content).

Environmental Chemistry I and II

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?

(CaSO4•H2O solubility) Metal toxicity; Copper complexation story

Environmental Chemistry I and II

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

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

Chemistry Today

Both Distance Education Courses Way to engage students

OWL Homework (Cengage)

Introductory Chemistry and Chemistry Today

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 1st year issues

Maturity Time management

1st year students