Climate Change Mind Map
Woody Moses, Highline Community College

Systems Thinking and Civic Engagement for Climate Justice in General Chemistry: CO2 and PM 2.5 Pollution from Coal Combustion
Sonya Doucette, Bellevue Community College
Students apply chemistry to a climate justice case study using a systems thinking perspective in class and discuss the connections between chemistry and climate justice in a conversation with a community outside of the classroom for civic engagement. The instructor offers formative feedback during class time and in response to discussion posts. Feedback is meant to build understanding and application of concepts important to learning chemistry within a systems thinking context and using civic engagement to communicate how chemistry relates to climate justice.

Threading Climate Justice, an Equity Ethic, and Systems Thinking Through a General Chemistry Course
Sonya Doucette, Bellevue Community College
Using a series of case studies incorporated into lectures, activities, and laboratory sessions, I thread climate justice throughout the first quarter of General Chemistry. Case studies highlight social justice issues exacerbated by the climate crisis, which humanizes abstract chemistry content and engages students with an equity ethic. For some case studies, students use systems thinking to identify the compositions and phases of matter present in real-world environments and contexts.

Is The Water Safe for Aquatic Life?
Sue Habeck, Tacoma Community College
In this field activity students ponder sustainability issues such as point and non-point sources of pollution (including personal contributions), impacts of pollution, and potential mitigations.

Exploring The Impact of Increased Acid Levels in Ocean Waters on Coral
Dharshi Bopegedera, The Evergreen State College
The goal of this laboratory is to help students understand that burning fossil fuels, which results in an increase in the acidity of ocean waters, has a detrimental impact on marine life (specifically coral but also other organisms that have calcium carbonate based shells).

Acidification of Freshwater Streams and Lakes
Katy Olsen, Pierce College
Students research the acidification of freshwater streams and lakes, identify at least one of the sources, and determine how their daily activities contribute to the problem.

An Environmental Analysis of Lake Waughop
Karen Harding, Pierce College
Through an analysis of water quality in a nearby lake, students are introduced to basic chemical techniques such as titrations (both acid/base and oxidation/reduction), atomic absorption spectrometry, and uv/vis spectrometry

Comparison of Traditional and Green Chemistry Methods for Extracting Essential Oils from Spices
Karyn Mlodnosky, Cascadia Community College
This assignment connects aspects of green chemistry and environmental stewardship with some of the skills and theory involved in natural products chemistry and separation methods.

How Many Plants Make a Future? The Carbon Dioxide Challenge
Rus Higley, Highline Community College Marine Science and Technology Center, Vanessa Hunt and Timothy Sorey, Central Washington University
This activity focuses on the role of photosynthesis in a sustainable future. Students explore the effect of photosynthesis and respiration in a 'closed systems' containing plankton, marine plants, and fish. By calculating carbon dioxide uptake and production in these systems, they predict a plant: animal ratio sufficient to maintain a system in carbon dioxide 'balance' for one hour.

Organic Chemistry: Friend or Foe? An Organic Chemistry Special Investigation
Neal A. Yakelis, Pacific Lutheran University
Students are asked to work in teams to find a claim in the media relating to the impact of an organic compound (or class of organic compounds) on the environment and its inhabitants. Their chosen compound should have an effect on the sustainability of plant or animal life, or, in particular, the sustainability of human health.