Meet the Authors
Dr. Alex Leontyev is a recent Ph.D. graduate in chemistry education and now he is a professor of chemistry at Adams State University, where he promotes active learning and effective assessment in his classrooms and principles of green chemistry in his laboratories. Professor Natalia P. Tarasova is the Director of the Institute of Chemistry and Problems of Sustainable Development and the Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair in Green Chemistry for Sustainable Development at the D. Mendeleyev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, in Moscow, Russia. Dr. Leontyev and Professor Tarasova value green chemistry and sustainability and believe that both should be an essential part of chemistry curriculum at any level.
Lesson Overview
In this lesson, we attempted to introduce the idea of planetary boundaries to students in introductory chemistry classes. Planetary boundaries, a concept recently introduced by Johan Rockström and colleagues define the safe operating space for humanity with respect to the Earth system and are associated with the planet’s systems and processes. The nine processes are climate change, biodiversity loss, nitrogen and phosphorus loads, stratospheric ozone depletion, ocean acidification, change in land use, chemical pollution and atmospheric aerosol loading. Thresholds for these processes were identified that should not be transgressed if we want to maintain the stability of the Holocene state in which human civilizations were developed.
Chemistry concepts are directly linked to each of processes associated with planetary boundaries. For example, planetary boundaries of climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion are related to the concept of concentration and different ways to quantify it. The planetary boundary of the nitrogen and the phosphorus cycle is based on the concept of chemical change. The planetary boundary of ocean acidification is based on the concept of solubility and chemical equilibrium.
The lesson integrates strategies that facilitate conceptual change and cooperative learning. Students construct concept maps for several planetary boundaries described in the Rockström’s paper using concept mapping software and discuss this concept maps with their peers. At the end of the lesson, an instructor constructs concept maps that integrates all of the students’ work.
We believe that being aware of planetary boundaries and danger of crossing thresholds is an important part of the education process and promotes responsible stewardship of the Earth. We also believe that students learn more and at a deeper level when they are given an opportunity to construct knowledge themselves and integrate it into their prior knowledge.
Chemistry concepts are directly linked to each of processes associated with planetary boundaries. For example, planetary boundaries of climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion are related to the concept of concentration and different ways to quantify it. The planetary boundary of the nitrogen and the phosphorus cycle is based on the concept of chemical change. The planetary boundary of ocean acidification is based on the concept of solubility and chemical equilibrium.
The lesson integrates strategies that facilitate conceptual change and cooperative learning. Students construct concept maps for several planetary boundaries described in the Rockström’s paper using concept mapping software and discuss this concept maps with their peers. At the end of the lesson, an instructor constructs concept maps that integrates all of the students’ work.
We believe that being aware of planetary boundaries and danger of crossing thresholds is an important part of the education process and promotes responsible stewardship of the Earth. We also believe that students learn more and at a deeper level when they are given an opportunity to construct knowledge themselves and integrate it into their prior knowledge.
