In this activity, college level students learning fundamental concepts in Environmental Chemistry apply their knowledge either in carrying out a research project or in designing a hands-on mini-workshop with the key objective of teaching middle-school students topics relevant to water quality and stormwater. College-level students also take part in a restoration activity on a local watershed three miles away, working side by side with the middle-school students and the members of the community.

The project aims to bring together middle-school students, college-level students, and local citizens on a monitoring and restoration program of a local creek; improve the public's understanding and engagement on local environmental issues such as stormwater; improve the educational experience of both middle-school and college-level students; and motivate middle-school students to pursue further education in the field of science. This project is an example of environmental education bringing together two different levels of students, as well as the community as a whole.

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This lab uses the remote operation of an Electron Probe Micro-Analysis (EPMA) available through the Florida Center for Analytical Electron Microscopy (FCAEM; https://fcaem.fiu.edu/), at Florida International University, Miami, to explore feldspar mineral chemistry. This lab explores detailed mineral chemistry, data normalization, and plotting compositional ranges on ternary diagrams suitable as an introductory assignment in a Mineralogy, Earth Materials, or Petrology course. This instructor-led interactive demonstration of remote Electron Microprobe use introduces students to microprobe analysis, x-ray analytical techniques, standardization, image analysis, normalization, mineral formulas and composition. The instructor can acquire images (optional) of samples containing feldspar (provided by FCAEM or instructor's samples) then select multiple points for analysis. This activity captivates student's attention and provides a hands-on instrument-led approach to introducing undergraduate students to chemical analysis and vital concepts in mineralogy and petrology.

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This problem set uses Escher drawings as 3-D projections to make analogies to real minerals as well as order/disorder relations to provide examples of features found in real minerals (e.g. superstructures, substitutions, structural defects, and modulated and incommensurate structures).

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Watershed Awareness using Technology and Environmental Research for Sustainability (WATERS)

The WATERS project is developing and researching a student-centered, place-based, and accessible curriculum for teaching watershed concepts and water career awareness for students in the middle grades. This 10-lesson unit includes online, classroom, and field activities. Students use a professional-grade online GIS modeling resource, simulations, sensors, and other interactive resources to collect environmental data and analyze their local watershed issues. The WATERS project is paving a path to increased access to research-based, open access curricula that hold the potential to significantly increase awareness of and engagement with watershed concepts and career pathways in learners nationwide.

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By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe the properties of water that are critical to maintaining lifeExplain why water is an excellent solventProvide examples of water’s cohesive and adhesive propertiesDiscuss the role of acids, bases, and buffers in homeostasis

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain why carbon is important for lifeDescribe the role of functional groups in biological molecules

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe the properties of water that are critical to maintaining lifeExplain why water is an excellent solventProvide examples of water’s cohesive and adhesive propertiesDiscuss the role of acids, bases, and buffers in homeostasis

The Chemistry of Shoe Game: Using Sneaker Culture to Teach Science Technology Engineering Art and Mathematics (STEAM) contains an introduction to sneaker culture and highlighting it as a method for teaching STEAM education within both formal informal learning environments.

This activity is a series of game-like lessons that assist the student in developing the logic skills needed to read mass spectrometer output and formulate the identity of an unknown molecule. As students endeavor to identify the unknown they must apply fundamental chemistry knowledge including formula mass, isotopes, periodic table, relative abundance, interpreting graphs, organic chemistry, ionization, bonding rules, and structural formulas. Based on an activity presented by Olaf Runquist, Professor, Hamline University.