"Case studies are used to demonstrate to students the interplay of chemical, environmental health, regulatory, and business considerations that dictate chemical process and product design."
At the level of Normal Expectations in the ACS guidelines, educators are expected to use case studies to demonstrate the interplay of various considerations in chemical research, manufacturing, and beyond. Through these case studies, students learn a deeper appreciation and understanding of how green chemistry and sustainability play an important role across many different aspects of chemical product and process design.
Cases and Cases of Cases
There are many resources available online that provide case studies and examples of chemical products and processes in action. Some are related to greener chemical product design, while others are related to chemical spills or disasters and the subsequent environmental or human health impacts. Some are not specifically related to green or sustainable chemistry but could provide an opportunity to be viewed or discussed from a green chemistry and/or sustainability lens. Regardless, the following list of resources gives a starting point for many educators and chemistry programs looking to meet the requirements at this level of the ACS guidelines.
- The ACS Green Chemistry Learning Modules provide a great starting point for teaching fundamental chemistry concepts through the lens of green and sustainable chemistry. The modules contain numerous "real-world" examples of chemistry and green chemistry in action. These modules will eventually be available in the GCTLC's searchable library as linked resources.
- Beyond Benign's website has a number of case studies for download, although they are a different type of case study in that they examine alternative approaches for performing undergraduate laboratory experiments by making them greener. In particular, see the general chemistry lab examples and organic chemistry lab examples, as well as the Guide to Green Chemistry Experiments for Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Labs. More case studies from Beyond Benign and our community members will be available in the GCTLC library soon.
- The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has an online library of case studies, created and curated by the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS). While these case studies cover many areas of science they are filterable by field and many of the chemistry-specific ones relate to green and sustainable chemistry.
- The Real-World Cases in Green Chemistry - Volume 1 and Volume 2 - provide examples of greener chemical process and product design from nominated and awarded projects of the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards. These cases still provide useful examples to researchers and educators despite the first volume having been written over 20 years ago. Dr. Michael Cann, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Emeritus at the University of Scranton, was an author on both volumes and created a series of teaching modules based on these case studies. They are currently being migrated to the GCTLC's library and will be available here soon.
- Molecular CaseNet has a series of case studies available through the QUBES platform, maintained by our colleagues at the BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium. While more specifically geared towards biochemistry and biology, many of the case studies overlap closely with the chemical sciences.
More resources will be added here overtime as they are identified. You can recommend resources and links for inclusion through the "Green Chemistry Resources for Addressing the ACS Guidelines" forum on the GCTLC.
GCTLC Library
Below is a list of resources from the GCTLC library that are tagged as "Case Studies" at the introductory or upper undergraduate level. These can provide a good starting point for educators looking to integrate case studies into their existing lectures, and many are designed to be modular for a simpler "drag-and-drop" approach (without detracting from content already being covered in the class). As more resources are added to the GCTLC with the same tags, they will appear on this page. However, you can always find more resources directly in the GCTLC's searchable library.
01 - History and Principles of Toxicology - (Toxicology for Chemists Curriculum - Module 1)
This module serves as a good first introduction to toxicology. In the first part of the module, students will learn and understand: the history of toxicology and its underlying principles; the progression of toxicology as a science; the development of regulatory agencies; key case studies that developed the field; and the paradox of uncertainty. In the second part of the module, students will ...
02 - Understanding Hazard and Risk (Toxicology for Chemists - Module 2)
This module is an introduction to understanding the principles of hazard and risk. The lectures are designed with a “choose your own adventure” format: you can take any slides and use them in any order to build your lecture! Using these materials, students will understand the basic concepts of hazard, exposure, and risk; be able to perform a simple chemical hazard assessment; be able to compare ...
06 - Toxicity of Metals (Toxicology for Chemists - Module 6)
This module is a good introduction to metal toxicity. Students will learn about the toxicity of metals in the body, metal pollution, the difference between metals and metalloids, mechanisms of heavy metal toxicity, and factors that affect metal toxicity. These lecture slides are heavily case-study based and provide an applied outlook on the chemistry with reference to many global incidents and ...
07 - Environmental Fate, Persistence, and Biodegradation (Toxicology for Chemists - Module 7)
This module contains an introduction to the concepts of fate, persistence, and biodegradation. Students will learn about: classes of molecules that persist in the environment; different types of degradation and their critical role in the environment and society; and parameters that affect biodegradation rate. Part II of this module is a full case study entirely based on the Deepwater Horizon oil ...
08 - Environmental Toxicology (Toxicology for Chemists - Module 8)
This module serves as an introduction to the principles of environmental toxicity: air pollution, water pollution, and chemical transport and fate. Using these materials, students will learn examples of pollutants and their effects on human health and the environment through multiple case studies and in-class discussions. These lecture slides comprise mostly case studies and provide a good outlook ...
12 - Case Studies, ChemToxTidbits, “Grab Bag” Folder (Toxicology for Chemists - Module 12)
Don’t have much time to prepare your lectures? Don’t know where to start with incorporating toxicology into existing class lectures or assignments? Not sure if you’re ready to adopt a full module? Do you just want access to the case studies, in-class assignments, homework assignments, and ChemToxTidbits slides? This folder contains all of these materials in a format easily accessible to you so ...
A guidebook for sustainability in laboratories
This guidebook aims to improve lab users’ everyday practices to become more sustainable. Specifically, this guidebook provides practical suggestions on how to effectively use lab instruments and resources and how to acquire data. We provide advice to labs covering disciplines such as biology, chemistry, computational science, engineering, life sciences, materials sciences, medicine, pharmacy, and ...
Green Chemistry University Course: Lecture 13 – Real-World Cases in Green Chemistry
In this class, students will learn about successful Green Chemistry technologies that have been awarded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Students will have the opportunity to research previous winners and discuss with their fellow classmates.
This course was developed and authored by:
Philip Coish
Kimberly Chapman
Paul Anastas
Seon Augusto Ferreira
Karolina Mellor
Amy Cannon ...
Students Learn Green Chemistry by Taking On Real-World Sustainability Challenges
In this episode, Professor Glenn Hurst takes his students at the University of York out into the world so they can see firsthand how their training in chemistry and chemical engineering can be channeled to help tackle sustainability challenges.
Along the way, the students learn the value of community engagement and evaluate their green chemistry and green engineering solutions in the context of ...
Voices of Black Talent in Chemistry: Retention Strategies and Personal Success Stories
This article presents the issues and barriers to retention of black talent in the field of chemistry and offers solutions and personal insights from black students, faculty, staff, and industry scientists in the chemistry space.
Voices of Black Talent in Chemistry: Retention Strategies and Personal Success Stories
Thais Scott, Davina Adderley, Yasmin Ali, Michael Amanuel, Alexis Blake, Makalya ...