Implementation of an Environmental Focus in an Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum Using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission and Ion Chromatography

西卡罗来纳大学 (WCU) 是南阿巴拉契亚地区的一所主要本科院校，其化学系正在制定以环境为重点的课程。 这一重点先前在 NSF 的支持下在阿肯色州立大学和 WCU 制定，基于 WCU 的生态多样性位置以及学生在环境科学领域的就业记录，这是一个自然契合。 正在实施新颖的环境实验，以促进学生在以下方面的学习：(1) 监测环境样本中的元素和离子，例如土壤、水和空气； （二）新生化学实验室化学废物的处理和监测； （3）利用天然水系统演示溶解度和络合离子形成的基本原理； (4) 分析方法开发； (5)本科生研究。 电感耦合等离子体-发射光谱法 (ICP-OES) 和离子色谱法 (IC) 是促进上述学习的强大技术，并广泛应用于环境分析。 利用环境应用，ICP-OES 和 IC 仪器被集成到课程中，以实现上述学生的学习。 涉及该仪器的新颖实验包括我们普通化学课程中土壤肥力的评估、初级水生化学课程中鳟鱼孵化和饲养设施废物对水质影响的表征以及高级环境化学课程中我们地区高海拔地区空气质量的测量。 仪器分析课程正在处理新生化学实验室的化学废物，并通过 ICP-OES 监测金属含量。高级仪器分析 II 学生正在使用基于项目的实验室来开发学习方法，这是贝茨学院在 NSF 支持下开发的。 该仪器正在蓬勃发展的本科研究项目中得到应用。 我们使用这种新颖方法的研究结果将通过教学期刊（化学教育杂志）和网站传播。

The Chemistry faculty at Western Carolina University (WCU), a primarily undergraduate institution in the Southern Appalachians, are developing an environmental focus to the curriculum. This focus, previously developed at Arkansas State University and WCU with NSF support, is a natural fit based on the ecologically diverse location of WCU and the students' employment record in the environmental sciences. Novel, environmental experiments are being implemented to promote student learning in (1) monitoring elements and ions in environmental samples, such as soil, water, and air; (2) the treatment and monitoring of chemical waste from freshman chemistry laboratories; (3) using natural water systems to demonstrate the fundamental principles of solubility and complex-ion formation; (4) analytical method development; and (5) undergraduate research. Inductively coupled plasma - optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and ion chromatography (IC) are powerful techniques to facilitate the learning discussed above and are widely used in environmental analysis. Using environmental applications, ICP-OES and IC instruments are being integrated into the curriculum to achieve the student learning described above. Novel experiments involving this instrumentation include the evaluation of soil fertility in our general chemistry course, the characterization of the effects of waste from trout hatching and rearing facilities on water quality in a junior-level Aquatic Chemistry course, and the measurement of air quality at high elevation sites in our region in a senior-level Environmental Chemistry course. An Instrumental Analysis class is treating chemical waste from a freshman chemistry laboratory, and monitoring the levels of metals by ICP-OES. The senior-level Instrumental Analysis II students are employing project-based laboratories for learning method development, as developed at Bates College with NSF support. The instrumentation is finding applications in a vigorous undergraduate research program. Our findings using this novel approach are to be disseminated through pedagogical journals (Journal of Chemical Education) and a web site.