Biosphere contamination is a current environmental and social issue that must be included in the school programme. It is essential that students recognise their responsibility, and be knowledgeable about the generation and reduction of environmental pollution. Dyes are usually used in school activities and discharged into household effluents,…

Chemicals are characteristic of chemistry education practices at all educational levels. The aim of this study is to explore teachers' didactic rationales when reasoning about the use of chemicals in their teaching practice. Experienced upper secondary chemistry teachers in Sweden were interviewed about their considerations regarding why, when,…

The topic of chemistry safety was included at the margins of traditional chemistry education in China. In order to understand the concerns of the safety issues based on the new chemistry curriculum in the mainland China secondary school, this study analyzed old and new secondary chemistry curriculum standards via the Natural Language Processing…

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a family of synthetic chemicals consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and chlorine atoms. PCBs have been produced commercially since 1929 in hundreds of industrial applications. Their continued production in the United States was phased out in the late 1970s, and strict disposal guidelines were regulated as adverse…

This study aims at investigating students' awareness of green chemistry principles (GCPs) which are infused in two context-based projects that are related to socio-scientific issues, namely climate change and materials' recycling. At first, content analysis of the projects' activities showed the infusion of four GCPs. Subsequently, the students'…

We demonstrate here a novel laboratory experiment for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by using a low energy gold-sputtering method together with a modern, green, and biofriendly deep eutectic solvent (DES). The strategy is straightforward, economical, ecofriendly, rapid, and clean. It yields uniform AuNPs of 5 nm in diameter with high…

A summer workshop was offered to inner-city high school students to explore the sustainability of their consumer choices using a systems thinking model. Students learned about related environmental or health issues due to the manufacturing, use, or disposal of common household products. Then, in the laboratory, they performed experiments to…

Two graphic holistic metrics for assessing the greenness of synthesis, the "green star" and the "green circle", have been presented previously. These metrics assess the greenness by the degree of accomplishment of each of the 12 principles of green chemistry that apply to the case under evaluation. The criteria for assessment…

An alcoholic extract of the spice turmeric can be used to create a light-sensitive dye that can be used to stain paper. On exposure to sunlight, the dyed paper can be used to capture photographic images of flat objects or reproduce existing images through the preferential degradation of the dye in light-exposed areas over a time period of a few…

A guided-inquiry lab, suitable for first-year general chemistry or high school advanced placement chemistry, is presented that uses only inexpensive, store-bought materials. The reaction of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) with aqueous acetic acid (vinegar), under the constraint of the challenge to completely fill a sealable plastic bag with the…

This project involved developing a method to remediate large quantities of aqueous waste from a general chemistry laboratory experiment. Aqueous Ni(II) waste from a general chemistry laboratory experiment was converted into solid nickel hydroxide hydrate with a substantial decrease in waste volume. The remediation method was developed for a…

Fascination with fireworks and pyrotechnics can be used for educational purposes. Several aspects of pyrochemistry such as redox reactions, flame colors, or the theory of combustion can be incorporated in the curriculum to illustrate some basic chemical principles, guaranteeing a lesson that will be engaging and memorable. Beyond classic…

The guide presents information about ordering, using, storing, and maintaining chemicals in the high school laboratory. The guide also provides information about chemical waste, safety and emergency equipment, assessing chemical hazards, common safety symbols and signs, and fundamental resources relating to chemical safety, such as Material…

More science laboratories are being built because of larger enrollments in academics and schools. There is an increase in hands-on/process science effected by the renewed interest in and priority of science education. New science curricula like Biotechnology and Advanced college type program courses are being introduced with the use of exotic…

Just as high school science is more complex than it is at lower grade levels, so are the safety issues teachers face in their classes and labs. Reduce the risks to people and place with Investigating Safely, the third and most advanced and detailed volume in NSTA's unique series of safety guidebooks for science teachers. Some of the guides 11…