E. J. Davis, Steve Pauls, Jonathan Dick
Feb 9, 2017
Citations
1
Influential Citations
26
Citations
Journal
Journal of Chemical Education
Abstract
Presented is a project-based learning (PBL) laboratory approach for an upper-division environmental chemistry or quantitative analysis course. In this work, a combined laboratory class of 11 environmental chemistry students developed a method based on published EPA methods for the extraction of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its environmental degradation products (dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane [DDD] and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene [DDE]) through Soxhlet extraction and quantitation using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). From the derived procedures, the students spent the remainder of the semester performing extractions and analyses to detect pesticide drift from the San Joaquin Valley of California into the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. The EPA methods used allow for a multitude of research-level questions which could be answered within a similar course with a specific question appropriate to student interest and regional environmental issues. This pedagogical approach provide...