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PBL Unit Name: Fighting Back Against Carbon Emissions

Facilitator Name: Zach Burkhardt

School Practicum Location: Decatur Central High School-Indianapolis, IN

Grade: 10th-12th

Subject(s): Chemistry

Course Name: General Chemistry I B

PBL Unit Description & Content Topics Addressed: Students will be calculating the amount of carbon emissions produced from a specific area of the school (their choice), and then propose an action plan to the school administration to reduce that carbon footprint.

A. Learning Goals: Content Knowledge & Skills Addressed (Standards)

*Core Concepts*
Indiana Chemistry Standards:
C.4.1 Describe, classify, and give examples of various kinds of reactions: synthesis (i.e., combination), decomposition, single displacement, double displacement, acid/base, and combustion.
C.4.2 Predict products of simple reactions as listed in C.4.1.
C.4.3 Balance chemical equations and use the law of conservation of mass to explain why this must be true.
C.4.4 Apply the mole concept to determine the mass, moles, number of particles, or volume of a gas at STP, in any given sample, for an element or compound.
C.4.5 Use a balanced chemical equation to calculate the quantities of reactants needed and products made in a chemical reaction that goes to completion.
C.6.3 Classify chemical reactions and phase changes as exothermic or endothermic based on enthalpy values. Use a graphical representation to illustrate the energy changes involved.

*Cross-cutting Concepts*
Indiana Environmental Science Standards:
Env.2.5 Give examples of the various forms and uses of fossil fuels and nuclear energy in our society.
Env.7.1 Identify evidence, consequences, and prevention for climate change produced by anthropogenic sources.
Env.7.5 Identify and describe the major air pollutants and their sources and impacts on the environment and human health
Env.7.6 Understand and explain how the burning of fossil fuels releases energy, waste heat and matter (air pollutants)

B. Authenticity & Relevance (Real-World Connections) : Climate change is a hot topic in today's society. Students in high school need to understand the issue of climate change and the different factors that affect it so that they are best able to work toward resolving those issues.

C. Driving Question: How can we, as environmental chemists, reduce our carbon footprint so that we may leave a better world for future generations?

D. Entry Event: I handed the letter (see attached) to the students. It is a letter from the principal talking about how the mayor's office has enacted a sustainability effort in the city, and that he wants his school to be a leader in this field. He is posing a challenge to students to have them calculate the amount of carbon dioxide that is being produced by the school. He is also challenging them to propose ways to deal with the carbon emissions from the school. The letter was on official letterhead when I distributed it to the students. I wrote the entry event document, but with the direct permission and supervision of the principal.


E. Benchmarks & Scaffolding: Students received feedback on their letter home, the individual assessment of the students ability to use stoichiometry to calculate the amount of carbon dioxide. Students also partake in a critical friends session to get feedback on their final presentations. There are benchmarks built into the calendar. There is a specific day in which students need to have completed their calculations. There is also a specific day in which students need to have completed their recommendations for improving the carbon emissions.

The scaffolding that has been included is the guided annotated bibliography. The biggest issue I had with this unit was helping students make sure that they had credible sources that they were citing. The guided annotated bibliography helped students defend their sources and also think critically about how they were going to use the sources.

F. End Products: The final products being delivered to the authentic audience were presentations detailing findings of amount of carbon emissions as well as a proposal to reduce the school's carbon footprint.

G. Formative & Summative Assessment Activities: There was a small summative assessment toward the beginning of the unit that had students calculate a family member's carbon emissions after driving for 1 week. They were to write their family member a letter explaining why carbon emissions are bad, how much carbon dioxide is being produced, and what their family member can do to reduce that number. This rubric was very similar to the content rubric of their final product.

Students also did a lab in which they investigated the combustion of different alcohols. There are several post-lab questions in which students are able to make inferences as to the efficiency of everyday fuels (natural gas, gasoline, and diesel) based on the data that they get from the lab.

The summative assessment is the final presentation in which the students will present their findings and proposals based on their research.

H. Rubric: Fighting Back Against Carbon Emissions Rubric

I. Employability (21st Century) Skills Addressed: Collaboration and Presenting were the two 21st century skills that I assessed for their final product. Students also submitted a survey at the end of the unit assessing themselves as well as their peers in terms of how well they worked with their group. The rubric that is attached has a section that assesses presentation skills and teamwork, or collaboration.

J. Community Partners:

  • Scott DeFreese- Principal at Decatur Central HS | Contact: sdefreese@decaturproud.org
    - Integral for the entry event
    - was the authentic audience member for student presentations

  • Shannon Anderson-Earth Charter Indiana | Contact: shannon@earthcharterindiana.org
    - Came in to give an overview of climate change
    - Talked about Indiana specific aspects (we still use a lot of coal for energy)

  • Cristina Padilla -Mayor's Office of Sustainability | Contact: cristina.padilla@indy.gov
    - Helped to get students to understand the things that are being done currently in Indianapolis
    - Told them different funding options that are available that they could mention in their presentations

K. Inquiry: Students looked at a variety of different issues within the school, each one having myriad solutions. For example, I had students who looked at the energy that it took to heat the pool. One group said that they would get a solar pool cover to help insulate the pool, while other groups suggested that the school opens the pool to the public during the summer so that it can raise money for a more environmentally friendly solar heater that doesn't burn fossil fuels.

L. Student Voice & Choice: Students were the ones coming up with these proposals and relaying their findings and suggestions to the school administration (principal and school board members). They were also allowed to look at ANY aspect of the school that they wanted. They looked at everything from school buses to pool heaters to the amount of plastic bottles that are wasted in the cafeteria. Because they were allowed the freedom to choose, students were very engaged in the unit, but it did add a little more work for me in terms of monitoring them and helping them find resources.

M. Required Materials and/or Tools: Combustion of Alcohols Lab Materials (See Lab above.)

Resources vary for this unit based on the areas in which your students focus. When looking at the school, I found it was handy to get the school's electric and heat bill so the students can break that down. I also found it was handy to look at the district's budget to see the amount of money spent on transportation. Our director of transportation was extremely helpful for this information.

Students will also need access to technology so that they are able to do research. Because there is a significant amount of research that needs to be done for this project, it is best if students have frequent or unhindered access to technology.

N. Examples of Student Work: The student example that I am providing is attached below. This particular group of students decided to focus on the amount of water that the school was using and the carbon footprint attached to it. They did a lot of research surrounding the impact that water usage has on a building. This one was interesting because it not only talked about the carbon footprint, but also the water footprint, which is an entirely other discussion in and of itself.

O. Facilitator Comments: Giving students the freedom to select an area of the school to focus on is the most important thing to do in this project. Even if a couple groups select the same thing, there are so many different proposals that they can make, no one presentation is going to be the same. Although this helps students get more engaged, it also creates a LOT more work for you. Using the annotated bibliography organizer will help take some of the workload off of you and put it on your students. It is also really important to make sure that you are sticking to the deadlines and benchmarks built into the calendar. There are some built-in buffer days to help with the student workload.