Following the Phosphorus: The Case for Learning Chemistry through Great Lakes Ecosystem Stewardship

摘要

Making connections between basic chemistry topics and "real life" issues and phenomena is now a standard feature of most high school and college introductory chemistry textbooks. These examples are often isolated, however, and do not offer students the opportunity to see the connections among the many principles in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum that are inherent to complex and potentially contentious environmental issues which affect the personal lives of the students themselves. By identifying and following the pathways of phosphorus runoff from farm fields in Northwest Ohio to Lake Erie, where it promotes the growth of Harmful Algal Blooms, undergraduates can see new relationships among key chemistry principles and deepen their understanding of these principles through science-based service-learning projects of benefit to environmental stewardship organizations.