Green chemistry projects for high school students?

[#1]

Hi I am Sharareh from Iran. I am chemistry teacher in highschool  and an environmental NGO in Iran. I want to know how can find green chemistry projects for my students that these projects increase my students responsibility about environment and change their behavior. for example in the case of global warming and their role in greenhouse gassouses. how they compute their carbon footprint by a siple way and with a simple formula?

thank you

[ACannon]

Hello there! We (Beyond Benign) have a number of green chemistry lesson plans and activities for the high school level, found here: beyond benign : green chemistry curriculum. The lessons might serve as a good starting point and spark some ideas for student projects. Please let us know if you have any questions as you are looking things over! And, good luck!

[jhaack]

One activity that I have had my students do is to create a material profile.  This involved investigating the life cycle of a specific material.  This involved keeping trace of the impacts of a material across its life cycle.  It involved documenting the inputs and outputs of the raw materials, manufacturing process, distribution, use and disposal for a specific material.  There is good information available for polymers at a website called PlasticsEurope (PlasticsEurope - Eco-profiles - PlasticsEurope).  The next step would be to identify an impact hotspot and then think about how to use green chemistry to improve the product.  For product ideas, I typically send my students to a website that catalogs the winners of the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award (Green Chemistry | US EPA - the awards are located on the right side of the page).  This site describes the changes that are made for specific products to reduce their impacts on human health and the environment.

Let me know if you have any additional questions.

[Ashley_Baker]

Hi Sharareh,

It's great that you're incorporating green chemistry into your teaching! There is a variety of resources for both teachers and students on the ACS Green Chemistry Institute (ACS GCI) website.

There is a guide to online resources for teachers, a comprehensive list of green chemistry textbooks and lab manuals, and also information for students.

You mentioned computing impacts as well, and there are a few tools on the GCI website. You might be interested in the process mass intensity calculator.

I hope you find these resources helpful. Best of luck with your teaching, and let me know if you have any questions!

[#5]

Hello Sharareh,

If you are interested in some additional activities on safer chemicals, check out Molecular Design Research Network resources too. http://modrn.yale.edu/high-school-curriculum

MoDRN has some interesting [and tested] modules which can take a whole class period.

Good luck and let me know if you have questions!

[#6]

Looking for a green project that I can have my high school sophomores do during distance learning.  State has tied our hands about “ teaching” new material during this shelter in place. Looking for ideas,

[joeltickner]

Hello – the best resources right now are those held by Beyond Benign – www.beyondbenign.org<http://www.beyondbenign.org> – they have a set of resources that could be used during social distancing.

Good luck!

Best,

Joel Tickner