Connecting the general chemistry laboratory to the real world: An environmental study of acid-mine drainage

CHED 93

Marguerite S. Crowell, mcrowell@plymouth.edu, Department of Chemical, Earth, Atmospheric, and Physical Sciences, Plymouth State University, Boyd Science Center, 17 High Street, Plymouth, NH 03264 and Susan Swope, sks@plymouth.edu, Chemical, Earth, Atmospheric and Physical Sciences Department, Plymouth State University, 17 High Street MSC48, Plymouth, NH 03264.
Students take part in a two-week lab with an environmental focus. The first week, students tour Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in Thornton, NH, approximately 20 miles from Plymouth State University, and collect water samples. This field activity demonstrates the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of environmental chemistry research. The second week, students conduct a colorimetric assay of the water from Hubbard Brook as well as water from an abandoned mine which has undergone remediation by the USDA Forest Service. Data is compared with results obtained from an Atomic Absorption AA and Graphite Furnace AA. Students estimate detection limits for the colorimetric method and compare results to that of the other instrumental methods. Student data will be presented.
 

General Posters
7:30 PM-9:30 PM, Sunday, April 6, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster

Division of Chemical Education

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008