The sequence of this course is based on a specific storyline about climate change with a tangible example of combustion and food calorimetry. The combustion of fossil fuels and release of heat, carbon dioxide, and water is a fundamental thread that ties together most of the sections of the course and ensures that chemistry concepts are able to be placed in the context of Earth’s systems. While many chemistry courses begin with the study of the atom, this course begins with macroscopic observations of a phenomenon (combustion). The next unit zooms into the microscopic, but begins with simple interactions between particles to explain thermal energy and how it is exchanged within systems. scholars then apply their understanding of heat flow to see its role in driving plate tectonics within the Earth system. Only after scholars are firmly thinking about matter as particles do they zoom in and look at the nature of the particles themselves by studying atoms and how their behaviors are categorized into the periodic table. Scholars are now equipped to model simple chemical reactions. They return to the combustion chemical reaction and consider the impact its reaction product, carbon dioxide, has on the global climate system. scholars consider more advanced chemical reactions and then apply their understanding of chemical equilibrium to a very real problem of ocean acidification, which is also due to changes in carbon-dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. In the end, scholars will have explored the fundamentals of chemistry and essential roles that these processes play in Earth’s solid geosphere, its liquid hydrosphere, and its gaseous atmosphere.
Scope and Sequence : Semester 1
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