Train
Chemical Spill
by
Wade Green and Joe Michnick
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Abstract The
purpose of this project is to provide students an engaging, real-world context
in which to learn chemistry. Too often, chemistry is presented as
distinct rules and reactions to be memorized that have little connection to
each other and no application outside of the laboratory. Students fail
to see that chemistry is happening all around them. For
this project, students are given a chemical spill disaster scenario at the
beginning of the semester to which they will apply the chemistry lessons they
learn over the following eight weeks. Most of the lessons are not
substantially different from those in any General Chemistry course. One
difference is that the students have a place to apply what they learn.
The other departure is that connections will be made along the way to other
scientific disciplines like biology and geology. Environmental and
chemistry professionals from the community will provide guidance as the
students develop a response plan to deal with the simulated disaster. Upon
completion of this project, students will have learned not only the standard
chemistry principles, but also how those principles apply outside of the
laboratory. This real-world connection will engage the students and
enhance their learning experience. Project Description The
students will be given the scenario that a freight train has derailed and
caused a massive chemical spill. They will work in small cooperative
groups to develop an action plan to minimize loss of life and property and
then devise a way to return the environment to its original state. As
these goals will require an understanding of the possible chemical reactions,
the environmental impacts, and remediation techniques, the project will
proceed in four phases: the issues, the chemistry, the broader context, and
the development of the plan. After
the project is introduced, the students will be given a presentation by the
local fire department on the approach taken by first responders to a
spill. This will help put the project in context and reinforce the
applicability of chemistry to something tangible. This presentation
will also highlight issues that the students might be unfamiliar with such as
protection of aquifer, the importance of prevailing winds, and the need to
understand the topography of the area. In this introductory section, we
will also cover safety and finding information on a Material Safety Data
Sheet. Once
the students have a better appreciation of the issues they face, a series of
benchmark lessons and lab activities will provide the necessary understanding
of chemical reactions. Lessons will include dimensional analysis
applied to large scales, reaction types, and stoichiometry. Lessons on
acid-base reactions and neutralization will constitute a major portion of
this section due to its central role in understanding general
chemistry. With
the basics of chemistry covered, the students will learn how to apply this
knowledge in the context of biological effects from exposure to chemicals and
how chemicals affect the environment. During this section, LCRA aquifer
experts will give a presentation on aquifers and recharge zones. The
students will research the effects of toxins on biological systems. Finally,
the students will put the pieces together and develop their action plan.
Professionals from local environmental engineering companies will provide expertise
and advice as the students plan for neutralization and clean-up. The
final product to be delivered by the student teams is a PowerPoint
presentation and poster detailing their plan for containment, evacuation, and
remediation of the spill area with justifications for their choices and a
budget. Rationale Traditional
Chemistry courses are often seen by students as disconnected from the world
outside the laboratory. They tend to see the topics presented as
distinct modules which have little or no application beyond the next lab or
test. Further, because students are so focused on mastering the
procedure or principle at hand, they fail to see how this knowledge could be
applied to solve a problem. Science presented in this way is uninteresting
and unapproachable to many students who might otherwise be tempted to study
further. Our
project based around a massive spill of multiple chemicals takes Chemistry
out of the world of theory and cookbook labs and gives the students a
tangible, real-world situation requiring them to apply what they have
learned. By working with professionals on initial response and then
recovery plans, they will see how an understanding of chemistry can solve a
problem. Among the few students who are hooked by chemistry are usually
the ones who see how chemistry is interwoven into all of the scientific
disciplines. This project asks students to use their knowledge of
chemistry, but also requires them to understand how it applies to biology and
geology. Finally, the chemical spill project will help students gain
confidence in their understanding of chemistry. Too often, labs and
instructional units are presented in such a way that the student is provided
the reaction to expect and is only asked to apply the correct techniques for
a narrowly defined situation. In the case of this project, the students
will be given far less direction and expected to consider multiple outcomes
and possible reactions. Potential Impact
Due to the design of our project many students and teachers can benefit from
this project. The main concept behind our project was to make it
accessible to all students and all classrooms. Our project does not
have to have any materials that you cannot find in the average classroom, all
that is needed is computers, basic lab materials, and a projector.
Students will be in charge of determining threats caused by a chemical spill
and then evaluate the necessary plans to clean up the threats. The
impact can reach beyond chemistry in that students will have to take into
account biological impacts in contaminating the affected area, as well as the
geological impact as the contaminants travel into the groundwater and onto
aquifers on other natural resources. Much of the research can be done
on the internet to see how the contaminants spread through the area, and a
program that can be downloaded free can allow for potentially hazardous
reactions to be run safely in the computer. Again the price of running
this project is low which allows for more teachers to allow their students to
participate in it. All that a teacher would need to prepare would be a
train manifest that would show students what chemicals were being spilled
into the environment, and from there the students would then use that to evaluate
the threats. From the project the students will have an idea of what a
real world chemist might go through in evaluating situations, as well as see
the importance of certain topics covered in the chemistry classroom, and the
students see how the sciences are connected through common principles. Evaluation Plan
The key to an evaluation plan is for the students to know what is expected of
them and the easiest way to transmit that expectation is through a
rubric. With a rubric students can see exactly what they are being
graded for and how they can earn the grade that they are looking for.
The culmination of the project will be a power point presentation on how the
students plan to take action after the train chemical spill. In order to
keep the students on task and so they do not fell that it is impossible to
complete such a long project, several deadlines will be laid out over the
entire course of the project. The success of the project will be
measure by the students meeting the assigned deadlines; also students will
critique each other on their performances, as well as the quality of their
final presentation. Attached is a copy of the rubric that will be given
to the students will receive at the beginning of the project.
This rubric should be used for
your assessment of your teammates performance. Each group member will
complete forms for each other group member. Name of group member being
assessed _______________________________
COMMENTS/SUGGESTIONS: How can your groups performance be
improved? ______________________________________________
Budget Item
Description
Unit Price Quantity Total Video Camera(miniDV)
$500.00
1
$500.00 LCD
Projector
$1000.00
1
$1000.00 Computer
$1000.00
1
$1000.00
Grand Total:
$2500.00 |
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