RATIONALE
I teach chemistry in a single gender school in north Philadelphia. I have always felt that my science curriculum should provide my students the understandings necessary to become critical informed citizens of our society. This becomes especially important when considering our relationship to the environment and our responsibilities as its stewards. The study of green technologies has become an important focus of my chemistry curriculum as it has helped my students understand how scientific knowledge can be used to solve difficult societal problems.
It is however quite unfortunate and ironic that these same technologies that are meant to ameliorate climate change are themselves threatening our health and the sustainability of our ecosystems. Understanding the complete life cycle of the technologies that are meant to save our environments is critically important to my students as “green technologies” will likely become more widely used in their future. A knowledge of life cycle assessments and the way they interrogate all aspects of a product system will provide such an awareness. It is important to note that these assessments are made on all products, and product systems as all of these processes have some impact on the environment.
A second equally important goal of this unit will be to introduce my students to the engineering principles that are used to design solutions to environmental problems. My student population is largely from underrepresented groups in science and technology. Although they are highly capable, intelligent students, few consider technology or engineering as future career paths. Exploring the ways engineering is used to solve environmental problems is one way to encourage them to consider it as a possible career path.
This unit written for the 10th grade chemistry curriculum is meant to introduce students to the processes used in Life Cycle Assessments and the way their findings are used to ameliorate the environmental impacts of products and product systems in our lives.
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