Highlighting the green face of chemistry to sixth-form students

Abstract

Green chemistry is based on radical ideas, overlapping with the principles of sustainability, which propose a modern version of chemistry that is less toxic, less hazardous, highly efficient and non-polluting. Introduced in universities in the early 1990s, it was later adapted to lower levels of education. There is little research on the impact of green chemistry on students learning chemistry at post-16. This project investigated the reaction of Maltese sixth-form students to its possible introduction in the A-level programme of studies. It involved the design and implementation of a classroom and laboratory intervention to introduce basic ideas of green chemistry at this level of education. Data gathered from the participants and from a control group were later analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Results show that green chemistry raised the students’ environmental awareness and their motivation in the subject. Students realized that it could close the gap between a traditional curriculum and one emphasizing the effect of chemistry on society. Participants strongly supported the inclusion of green chemistry in future A-level chemistry curricula as it opened their minds to think more critically and evaluate better the sustainability of chemical products and chemical processes, and their impact on their lives.