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Based in New York, Annette Sebuyira is a retired Guilderland High School chemistry teacher with over 30 years of experience. Annette is a Beyond Benign Certified Lead Teacher and is doing inspiring work to advance green chemistry education. Currently, she is involved in creating a green chemistry lab book for New York educators and is a co-facilitator of the New York State Master Teacher Green Chemistry Professional Learning Team.

In this Q&A, Annette shares more about the projects she’s working on, how she’s brought green chemistry into her classroom, and her hope for the future of green chemistry.

How have you brought green chemistry into your classroom?

I have adapted my labs to embrace the 12 Green Chemistry principles and modified most of my labs so we can use less hazardous materials. Two good examples are Equilibrium and Types of reactions. Equilibrium reactions are best taught and explained visibly (color change) or tangibly (temperature change).

The traditional chemistry labs rely a lot on the heavy metal (transition elements), which are famous for their colorful salt solutions but have hazardous effects on both health and the environment. However,the green chemistry based lab can achieve the same colorimetric effect through a combination of less hazardous household materials such as Butterfly Pea tea. The effect of temperature on equilibrium is easily obtained through a starch-Iodine complex. The vivid changes lend themselves to an inquiry lab, in which students are immersed in an engaging discovery process.

How have you seen students get excited about green chemistry?

Students come to my class with diverse backgrounds, knowledge, and misconceptions. Students who have had successes are excited to learn, while students who have had fewer successes come with a belief that they are not good at science. This second group can come to the class less curious or enthused about chemistry.

So when I start each year, the most important thing for me is to get to know each of my students as individuals. I want to be aware of the different stressors at home and in school. This helps me identify factors that may influence their ability to engage in the learning process. I owe it to every individual student that I equip them with the tools and knowledge that lead them to safer lab practices and prepare them to make sustainable decisions in their social responsibility and for the environment.

Since we use safer, green chemistry labs, all our labs can be discovery labs. For instance, I have students mix different household substances without revealing what the outcome should be. Then students work collaboratively to identify the chemistry reaction that is happening based on their observations. The materials used are safe, common household products, which allow reproductions and do-overs without the risk of harming students or the environment. (For example: combining water, indicator, rock salt, and baking soda in a sandwich baggie!)

I also lead students through exercises comparing traditional and green chemistry labs. We use a hazards chart and they compare the traditional textbook compound to the compounds used in the green chemistry labs. From this, students can successfully defend the choice of the chemicals used in class, just as they would in a real-life lab, based on the health and environmental impacts

It is gratifying to observe when my second-year chemistry students — who may have had me as a teacher in the 10th grade — are eager to educate new members who are now in the 12th grade class about the less hazardous and safe practices.

What projects are you currently working on? Why are they important for the field of green chemistry?

In my tenure with Beyond Benign, I have worked on a variety of green chemistry projects from curriculum development to leading professional development trainings. Currently, I am focused on advocating for and training educators in green chemistry in New York and building a regional community of practice here.

I am currently involved in a collaborative authoring of a lab book of green chemistry principles to be shared with New York State teachers. This book is for physical science teachers of all K-12 levels, and is a manual that is aligned with the NGSS and State (both New York and Colorado) Science Learning Standards. The aim is to guide and share green chemistry practices with educators, whether they are new to green chemistry or veterans. Each of the topics included is disseminated into three levels: elementary, middle school, and high school. The book also includes a phenomena-based unit, which is an in-depth, multi-lesson guide.

I am also currently serving as a co-facilitator of the NYS Master Teacher Green Chemistry Professional Learning Team, which aims to:

• Drive awareness and build interest in green chemistry education and clean-ups in high school classrooms;
• Introduce teachers to green chemistry concepts and replacement labs through green chemistry webinars lead by Beyond Benign Lead Teachers; and
• Train New York educators to implement green chemistry curriculum in their classroom.

This summer, I will be leading the online course, Advanced Green Chemistry: Connections to Our World, for all High School teachers in the US, which will provide an in-depth dive into the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry, to practice green chemistry pedagogy and procedures in their classrooms. Students will review green chemistry technology analysis through the study of Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge winning projects, gain an understanding of how to incorporate toxicology into their curriculum, and delve into the application of green chemistry to student STEM activities and inquiry projects.

What are your hopes for the future of green chemistry education?

I am hoping that green chemistry education becomes the norm, so we do not have to use the word green, and all chemistry by itself is benign.

Chemists Celebrate Earth Week is coming up in April. What’s an activity you do with your students that might inspire other educators?

My students and I do a STEM immersion show for all the 5th graders in our district (approximately 250 students). All the activities use safe household products — a green chemistry celebration!

Are you a New York-Based K-12 educator? Check out our New York website to stay up-to-date on resources and learning opportunities!

Greg Sloan is a teacher at Woodrow Wilson Middle School (Terre Haute, IN) and a Beyond Benign Lead Teacher. In his over 30 years of teaching, he’s seen Green Chemistry lessons enrich his students’ education, giving them a chance to feel that they have the power to affect important change in the world. In this interview, we talked to Greg about Green Chemistry’s presence in his classroom today.

How have you brought green chemistry into your classroom?

Through the years, I have had the opportunity to develop, pilot, and implement curriculums to help support Green Chemistry education in the middle school classroom. These lessons have allowed students to look at items and events in their everyday lives from different perspectives. There are myriad lessons that allow students to evaluate and question the status quo of product design and development as well as the effects of those processes on the environment. Students identify environmental concerns, seek out alternative options, and propose change. Furthermore, lessons like the ones where students make a bioplastic and create a product prototype allow them to see that their proposed alternatives are viable solutions and a real possibility.

How have you seen students get excited about green chemistry?

A recent activity was to use “Green Chemistry” in a descriptive sentence. A student’s response was, “ I can’t wait to learn more about Green Chemistry because I will be learning how to change the world.” On another question, asking, “Why is green Chemistry important for developing a new way to make things?” a student responded with, “Green Chemistry will be how we save the world. It is our future.” These types of responses are not uncommon once students get immersed in the curriculum. They see the need for change and get excited when they realize that there are simple solutions and that they can be a voice for that change.

Are you working on any green chemistry projects you’d like to share?

I am currently working on a project to bring a multi-lesson, Sustainable Invention curriculum to middle school classrooms. This will be a program that infuses phenomena-based learning, storyline tools, and design and engineering practices into the classroom. This is done by utilizing the exciting energy of green chemistry and the momentum of the environmental change movement to motivate students to explore, learn and love science.

What are your hopes for the future of green chemistry education?

I hope that students continue to become inspired by the possibilities that Green Chemistry holds for the future. I hope educators continue to show students that there are better, more environmentally conscious ways to invent and create. I hope that Green Chemistry careers become commonplace in the workforce. I hope that the term “Green Chemistry” itself becomes antiquated by the sheer fact that it will have become the standard.

What is your favorite green chemistry lab or resource?

It is impossible to have a favorite Green Chemistry resource. However, one of my go-to Green Chemistry lessons is “Cookie Equations.” In this lesson, students visualize that reactants in a chemical equation do not have the same properties as the products. They do see, however, that no atoms are lost; they are just rearranged to form new substances. They do this by using different varieties of sandwich cookies to represent reactants on one side of a chemical equation. Then, they take them apart and reassemble them to represent the products. I tell them they can eat whatever is left over, but they quickly learn about the Law of Conservation of Cookies! Although any lesson that keeps the ideals of Green Chemistry present and prevalent is a tally in the “win” column: a win for the students, a win for the teacher, a win for the Green Chemistry community, and a win for the future!

Snapshot from Plate to Planet

Developed by Beyond Benign in collaboration with Impossible Foods and a team of educators, Plate to Planet — a new science-based food unit for elementary school educators — is now officially available. The Plate to Planet module engages students with lessons relevant to their everyday lives to showcase how individual actions can be part of a broader solution for sustainability.

We caught up with Laura Kliman (Impossible Foods Director of New Product Development) as well as Veronica Morabito-Weeks (Beyond Benign Lead Teacher who helped develop Plate to Planet) to discuss why the new curriculum is so helpful in teaching students in grades 3-5 about the challenges of the food system, especially as they relate to biodiversity and climate change.

In Conversation with Laura Kliman

Laura Kliman

What do you think is important about Plate to Planet?

Laura Kliman: The Plate to Planet curriculum is so important because it provides a way for students to engage with real-world challenges — like climate change and its connection to our food system  —  to learn foundational scientific concepts and standards.

Snapshot from Plate to Planet

The curriculum we helped develop is special in that it puts students in the driver’s seat. The lessons encourage them to become scientists and come up with innovative solutions to real-world problems, creating an understanding of the impact that our everyday choices have on the environment. My favorite part of the curriculum is the yam experiment because it provides that “aha!” moment in which students understand that food is science, and we can use plant-based ingredients in really creative ways to solve scientific problems, all while having fun!

Why did Impossible Foods partner with Beyond Benign on this project?

Laura: Beyond Benign was an obvious partner for us. We share a dedication to sustainability through science, and we were really impressed by their network of incredible teachers who helped us develop a curriculum that will truly work in the classroom for both students and instructors.

Why does Impossible Foods feel that it’s important to create educational materials for students?

Laura: We are on a mission to create a more sustainable global food system and reverse the negative impacts of climate change. To do so, it’s imperative that we create the most delicious and nutritious plant-based meat products while also educating people about the connection between what is on their plate and its impact on the planet.

Students are more curious than ever about what we’re doing to save the planet and how they can help. We want to be part of the movement that gets kids excited about STEM and engaged in being part of the solution. K-12 education is particularly important because around the age of 8, kids start to really think about what they want to do when they grow up, connecting what they learn in school to the real world. Early education is critical to setting the tone and showing students that science is fun and important instead of scary and difficult. 

In Conversation with Veronica Morabito-Weeks

Veronica Morabito-Weeks

Why did you choose to be a part of launching this curriculum? 

Veronica Morabito-Weeks: I was thrilled to be asked to create a curriculum with Impossible Foods. It was like a dream come true for me because I already believed so strongly in the company.

Snapshot from Plate to Planet

It is so important to teach elementary students about sustainability and empower them to make change at a young age. We have a science unit called “The Science of Food,” and I was able to seamlessly mesh this curriculum into our existing unit of study. However, no matter what science curriculum teachers are using — biodiversity, matter, mixtures and solutions, and much more  —  I feel they would be able to incorporate Plate to Planet. 

How have your students reacted to Plate to Planet?

Veronica: My students absolutely loved this curriculum! They really believed they were food scientists and were so engaged in all of the lessons and activities. One of their favorite labs was the Chinese yam lab. They not only had fun with the yam slime, they found innovative ways to use it. 

Why do you think it’s important for young people to learn about science from a sustainability perspective?

Veronica: Sustainability is a hard concept for elementary students to grasp but a concept that is essential to our survival. Once they understand it, they embrace it and look for it in many areas of their lives. 

My students are currently working on an app design contest tackling sustainability in sports, particularly in large events held in cities, like the NYC Marathon. The Plate to Planet lessons go hand-in-hand with other meaningful projects, and I know my students will be incredible stewards of our Earth. Many have already made a personal pledge to cut down on their meat consumption in an effort to make change. This was not a teacher-directed concept but rather came from their hearts.

Johanna Brown

Johanna Brown is a chemistry teacher at Pullman High School in Washington. A passionate educator with an eye toward the future, Johanna has made green chemistry lessons an essential part of her students’ curricula, and she’s also supported other teachers in their green chemistry education.

We talked to Johanna about her background in education and how green chemistry has made her students more engaged in the classroom. As Earth Day approaches, we’re celebrating the connection between green chemistry principles and our ongoing commitment to being stewards of our environment. As Johanna says, “every day is Earth Day.”

Beyond Benign (BB): Tell us a little bit about your background. Why did you become a science teacher, and what motivated you to start learning about and teaching about green chemistry?

Johanna Brown (JB): From a young age, growing up in Spokane, Washington, I have always been very concerned about our planet and all of the living things on it. I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do but thought deeply about healthcare. In high school I had a teacher tell me that I would make a great teacher, and I brushed him off, ready to get into STEM in college. At the end of my chemistry program at Western Washington University, I realized that the lab was not my destiny and ended up working at WSU in Residence Life, where I (not surprisingly) helped with a campus-wide sustainability competition. I was teaching a leadership class there and tutoring chemistry when it all clicked, and I knew I needed to go back and get my teaching certification.

I’ll admit that while earning my chemistry degree and early in my teaching, I had the ideas of sustainability and chemistry completely separate in my mind. Once I learned about the 12 principles of green chemistry and how they could be embedded into my classroom, it felt like such a natural pairing. I have now taken both of the Beyond Benign Green Chemistry courses, and those really amped up my ability to teach in this context. Then, seeing how sustainable chemistry is such a natural fit with the NGSS has spurred me to write my own green lessons and labs.

BB: Why do you think it’s important for teachers to incorporate green chemistry principles into their science classrooms?

JB: Green chemistry is just a no-brainer to me. Teachers, students, and all living things benefit from using materials that do not harm us or our environment. Using more benign and everyday chemicals has the added benefits of making lab clean-up a breeze and much cheaper. Since I don’t need to purchase many lab-grade chemicals from specialty suppliers, I can grab consumables for a much lower price at my local grocery store. I do often have to explain why I am buying 100 pixie stix, dry ice, and liquid starch at the same time.

What I didn’t expect at first, and what I have found the most important for my student learning, is that green chemistry is more applicable to students’ lives. While getting that gorgeous yellow lead (II) iodide precipitate to form is attention-getting, students don’t form a strong connection with that phenomenon. If we are truly going to teach the NGSS, we need to embed our instruction in situations that they can connect to. Think IMFs with washcloths and absorbance, stoichiometry with fuel calculations, bond energy and activation energy with candles. I now tend to use videos to show the more flash-bang type of demonstrations while having students really get their hands on safer substances that they can actually connect with.

Students in Johanna’s science lab

BB: In the time that you’ve been involved in green chemistry teaching and training, have you noticed any trends in teaching?

JB: I am happy to report that we are definitely moving away from the old demo-a-day, lecture, test algorithm that was seen in many chemistry classrooms from the past. As more and more schools truly commit to the NGSS and dig into the standards, it is clear that the model of stand-alone content areas is history. The chemistry classes of today need engineering practices, earth science, and application to name just a few additions. I think the interest will only keep growing as we better acknowledge the science of keeping our planet habitable.

BB: Tell us about your background leading green chemistry trainings.

JB: I have to say that I am very lucky to have great friends and colleagues. After attending a training session at the Washington Science Teacher Association state conference, I got connected to Saskia Van Bergen, who works out of the Washington State Department of Ecology. Her office sponsored half of my Beyond Benign High School Summer course and after that, she had the idea to put together some in person training for people in Washington State. We had planned for a great day of green chemistry in Spokane for May of 2020. That didn’t work out, but we pivoted and ended up writing three different sessions for high school, middle school, and elementary school and presented them virtually (and hands-on, we mailed out packets!) sessions. We did this in the summer of 2021 as well, and our middle school session has now been developed into a self-paced course via ClimeTime funding and Cari Haug, a science coordinator in central Washington.

Through these we have reached hundreds of Washington teachers at every level, and I was so amazed at our feedback. I think many teachers want to address climate change and ideas of sustainability but aren’t sure where to start. We offered immediately implementable activities that teachers are now doing in their classrooms, and some of them are even designing their own place-based lessons!

BB: What advancements do you think are most necessary in order to get green chemistry into more classrooms?

JB: The labs that Beyond Benign have are great ways for teachers to get started. As more and more schools are heading toward phenomenon-based learning, we need to create high-quality instructional materials that are three-dimensional and unit-based that focus around an aspect of green chemistry. As always, I think that many people are interested, we just need to lower the activation energy for them to try it, so to say.

BB: Earth Day is coming up! Do you have anything special planned for your classroom?

JB: I am more of an “every day is Earth Day” sort of person. After the exam, AP Chemistry will do a full environmental chemistry unit, studying polymers, plastics, water quality, and air quality. My classic chemistry course will be looking at food waste that day and how food waste heading to a landfill vs. a compost has different effects on the Earth. Find it here!