How chemistry is present in everyday life

Purpose: This writing assignment is composed of two parts—a proposal (20 pts) and paper (80 pts). There are two purposes of this assignment; one is to develop an awareness of how chemistry is present in everyday life, and the other is to show your level of understanding of the CHEM 1010 material and apply that knowledge to a real world example.

Skills: The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate competence of the following skills in order to meet the requirements of the Natural Science General Education Course:

• Use basic scientific language and processes and be able to distinguish between scientific and nonscientific explanations.
• Identify unifying principles and repeatable patterns in nature, the values of natural diversity, and apply them to problems or issues of a scientific nature.
• Analyze and discuss the impact of scientific discovery on human thought and behavior.

Knowledge: This assignment will also help you to become more familiar with the following concepts:

• The chemistry behind a type of pollution (CO₂ emissions or plastic)
• How each person contributes to pollution daily and what is being done on a global, national, or local level to combat the issue

Tasks:

1. Proposal:

In scientific research, the purpose of a proposal is to present your ideas in a well laid out manner such that organizations will gladly fund your project. These organizations want to see that you’ve done some initial background research in that area and that they won’t just be throwing away their money.

In that sense, the writing assignment proposal is a plan for the paper; a brief outline in paragraph form using complete sentences. Roughly half-page to one page in length. The proposal must include:

• Topic of choice (CO₂ emissions or plastics)
• Choose three CHEM 1010 concepts you intend to explain in the paper and include some details as to how you will explain. The chemistry concepts you choose should be significant enough to make a paragraph in the paper; concepts may include gas laws, pH, Lewis structure, physical/chemical properties, molecular polarity, etc. These ‘chemistry concepts’ should be key terms/topics from the textbook. The third concept must come from chapters 6 or 8; these chapters include concepts like solubility, concentration units, colligative properties, acid/base chemistry, pH, buffers, and redox reactions.

Good example: One chemistry concept will discuss the redox reaction between iron, oxygen, and water. I intend to show which species undergoes oxidation and which undergoes reduction.

Bad example: Concept 1 will look at oxidation-reduction.

• Copy/screenshot/summary of carbon or plastic footprint calculated for 1 year. There are several footprint calculators available online.
• Two valid references other than the Denniston text. (Not Wikipedia, prefer one scientific journal article.) If an online source, please provide full hyperlink.

Carbon Footprint Calculator Sites:

https://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

https://www.conservation.org/carbon-footprint-calculator#/

https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/carbon-footprint-calculator/

Plastic Footprint Calculator Sites:

https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/plastic-footprint

https://www.carbonfootprint.com/plastic_calculator.html

1. Paper:

Choose one type of pollution (CO₂ emissions or plastics) and write 2-4 page paper, double spaced. The paper should include the following:

1. Summarize five facts you learned about this type of pollution; they should not be general information. Examples might include the amount being produced per day/year, effects on the environment/wildlife/humans, use, disposal/recycling, etc. Label each fact (e.g. Fact 1). The facts do not have to all be in one paragraph; they could be supporting information in separate paragraphs.
2. Answer these questions: What fact about this pollution is most concerning to you? Why?
3. Describe how society is combating the issue. Research to find if there are any local, national, and/or global efforts.
4. How are you currently helping to combat the issue? What else could you do? Using your carbon or plastic footprint calculator, make some changes in your daily routine. How much would a few of those changes decrease your footprint? Discuss.
5. Choose three chemistry concepts that relate to your type of pollution. The CHEM 1010 concepts you choose should be significant enough to make a paragraph for each; concepts include gas laws, pH, Lewis structure, physical/chemical properties, molecular polarity, energy units, nuclear radiation, etc. The third concept must come from chapters 6 or 8; these chapters include concepts like solubility, concentration units, colligative properties, acid/base chemistry, pH, buffers, and redox reactions. Summarize in your own words each concept and then explain how it applies to your topic.

Criteria for Success:

The proposal should be a half-page to one page in length using complete sentences. Include full hyperlinks to sources if found on the web. If you have a question, ask early; I am here to help you succeed, so let’s discuss the proposal before submission. Feedback on the proposal will be given. The proposal should include all parts as outlined. Link to Proposal Grading Rubric.

The paper should include a title, introduction, thesis statement, supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion. Mere length will not get you full credit. Composition, spelling, and understanding of the material will all count. The paper should be a cohesive document where sources are to be cited properly. Wikipedia is NOT a valid source.  MLA or APA guidelines are acceptable. I am more concerned with plagiarism; rephrase others’ statements in your own words. If it is not common knowledge then it should be cited. You do not need to cite common ideas from the Denniston text. The paper should include all parts as outlined. Link to Paper Grading Rubric.

Below are examples of how to write about the chemistry concepts.

GOOD EXAMPLE:

“As a metal rusts it is said to undergo oxidation. Oxidation is a part of an electrochemical reaction; the other part is called reduction. Oxidation is when a species loses electrons, and the charge becomes more positive. Reduction is when a species gains electrons and the charge becomes more negative. An example of a redox reaction (oxidation-reduction) is when iron rusts. Here is the full chemical equation:

Fe(s)  +  O₂(g) –> Fe₂O₃(s)

On the reactant side, iron has a 0 charge and so does oxygen. On the product side, iron has a +3 charge and oxygen has a -2 charge. Since iron went from 0 to +3 it became more positive; it was oxidized. Oxygen went from a 0 to -2; it became more negative (gained electrons) which means it was reduced.”

This example defines both oxidation and reduction in their own words which satisfies the “summarize the concept” requirement. Then the writer explains how they know which species undergoes oxidation and reduction; this satisfies the “apply to the topic” requirement.

BAD EXAMPLE:

“Rusting is a type of redox reaction. Redox means oxidation-reduction reaction. Oxidation loses electrons, while reduction gains electrons. Iron undergoes oxidation, and oxygen undergoes reduction as show by the equation:  Fe(s)  +  O₂(g) –> Fe₂O₃(s) ”

While this example has some of the same parts, it doesn’t fully explain how the writer knows that iron undergoes oxidation and oxygen undergoes reduction. The depth of the explanation is clearly lacking. This would likely only receive half credit. Explain in detail each concept and how it applies to the topic.