Community News

Interviewed by the K12 Engineering Education Podcast, K12 Program Manager Janie Butler and lead teacher Eric Nash chat about developing and disseminating educational resources in green chemistry – like how to create bioplastics, or thinking about a full product life cycle. Originally scheduled to present at the SXSW Edu 2020 Conference in Austin, Texas, they discussed how chemistry and design can be integrated into the K-12 classroom, why this is important, and more. They also brainstorm ways to teach green chemistry even amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Listen below, or go here for show notes.

Lead Teacher, Cassidy Javner, is featured in the March issue of AACT for her piece on Designing a Greener Le Châtelier’s Principle Lab. This article discusses the importance of green chemistry and features a safer replacement to traditional Le Châtelier’s Principle labs, which often use hazardous chemicals that pose a risk to students and the environment. The concepts of Le Châtelier’s Principle can be effectively demonstrated using household materials of starch, iodine, butterfly pea tea, vinegar, and baking soda, see the lesson plan here.

Lead Teacher, Erika Fatura, published an article with ChemEdX titled, “‘Why Green Chemistry? Or Better Yet, Why Not Green Chemistry?”  Within the piece, she writes her 5 reasons why she teachers with green chemistry, and then gives stepwise advice for how other high school teachers can implement green chemistry into their classrooms. Read her article here.

In partnership with CPALMS, an online toolbox of information, vetted resources, and interactive tools that helps educators effectively implement teaching standards, we created ‘Chemistry with a Conscience.’ Explore green chemistry and what it means to be benign by design in this interactive tutorial.