Assignment:
Science Literacy
One of the goals of this course is to improve your scientific literacy so that you are better able to recognize and understand the role chemistry plays in the world around you, are able to distinguish good science from pseudoscience, and are able to make more informed decisions as a consumer and member of society.
Find a current news article (from the last two years) that relates to material you learned about in CHEM 100 (topics from syllabus listed below). Make the headline or topic the name of your post. Include the link to the article as the first line of your text. In your own words (do not quote or plagiarize the article!), summarize the story, paying particular attention to the chemistry involved and who or what it affects. Then reflect on what you've read, making use of the chemistry knowledge you've gained this semester.
Similar to the rules in the last discussion assignments, you may not choose the same article/topic as a classmate (articles from different news sources reporting on the same story are considered the same topic). Therefore it is to your advantage to post early to avoid having to find a new example to use!
Make sure to cite the original article and any other sources you consult. Your article does NOT need to be from a peer-reviewed journal; but it does need to be from an otherwise well-known and trusted news outlet. No plagiarism will be tolerated! If any part of your post is found to be plagiarized, you will receive a zero on this assignment and the incident will be reported.
For your reference, Major topics in this course are:
I.Science and Chemistry
II.Matter and Energy
III.Measurement
IV.Atoms and Atomic Structure
V. Periodic Table
VI. Chemical Bonding: Ionic and Covalent Bonds
VII. Chemistry of the Atmosphere
VIII.Chemistry of the Earth and Water
IX.Organic Chemistry
X. Polymers
XI.Food Chemistry
XII.Household Chemicals
XIII. Drugs and Medicine
XIV Energy Production (The First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics)