Integration of Service-Learning Incorporating Environmental Atomic Absorption Analysis into the Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum

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Chemistry (12) The Chemistry Department at Kalamazoo College is integrating environmentally based service-learning laboratories involving atomic absorption spectroscopy into the chemistry curriculum to more effectively engage students in learning. Introducing environmental chemistry into the curriculum also supports the college's Environmental Studies Concentration. The laboratories being developed are modeled after the service-learning General Chemistry project at the University of Utah, which employs atomic absorption spectroscopy to test for lead in the local community. In adapting this model, students in Introductory Chemistry I are collaborating with students in a sociology course at Kalamazoo College to sample and test for lead in city neighborhoods. In addition, students in Analytical Chemistry are working with county environmental services and local elementary school students to sample and test the local watershed for trace metals. The intellectual merit of the proposal lies in the experience students will gain with atomic absorption spectroscopy in a sequential fashion beginning in Introductory Chemistry I and continuing in Analytical Chemistry and applying their new knowledge and skills to real problems in the local community. The broader impacts of this project include enhancing the chemistry and environmental studies curricula, strengthening collaborative efforts between Kalamazoo College and the local community, providing the community with needed results of chemical analyses, and promoting science to elementary students who are predominately (~70%) from groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields.