TEXTS: Chemistry, Principles and Reactions, 3rd Ed., Masterton andHurley (Required)

Lecture Outline: Chemistry Principles and Reactions, R. O. Ragsdale (Required)

Problem Solving in General Chemistry, R. O. Ragsdale (Optional)

Laboratory Manual (Chem 121) available from the University Bookstore after October 14. (Required)

RECITATION: Tuesday and Thursday at times and places stated in the Class Schedule.

The first Recitation meeting will be held Thursday, September 26 and will be supervised by your Chemistry Teaching Assistant(T.A.)

Chemistry 131 students: You cannot participate inthe service learning project since you will not be checked into alaboratory

LABORATORY: At the times noted in the Class Schedule. Labs for theservice-learning students will begin on October 1. Students who havesatisfactorily completed Chemistry 121 within the past two years who wishto be excused from the laboratory may not enroll in the service learningcourse. You should be registered for Chem 121-2, not Chem 121-3.

We aim to have each student invest 20 extra hours over the duration of the Quarter in the service project described below. Our course has officially received the service-learning designation. The rewards for enrolling in the service section of Chem 121 will include: the satisfaction of having performed a community service, the opportunity to learn some additional skills in the freshman chemistry laboratory, opportunity to become better acquainted with the teaching assistants, other students and the professor, and the advantage of being graded for the class on the basis of service activities as well as the usual general chemistry multiple choice examinations. You will also gain the advantage of an SL designation on your transcript of credits. A service-learning Chem. 121 section in Winter, 1996 surveyed the lead metal contamination of Jordan River sediments. Beneficiaries of this service were the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service local offices. Comparatively little lead metal is present in the sediments so that the undergraduate students were only able to collect samples and prepare them for spectroscopic [ICP] analysis at the Kennecott Environmental Laboratory, Magna, UT. The actual metal analysis was carried out by technicians at Kennecott rather than by students. A situation in which environmental lead metal concentrations are higher would have two advantages for a student service project: the lead threat to the community would be more serious and thus more interesting to the chemistry students and the detection of lead in the samples could be carried out in the student laboratory.

In a study published in the Journal of the American MedicalAssociation, Herbert L. Neddleman, M.D., professor of psychiatry and pediatrics, the University of Pittsburgh reported that a correlation exists between the level of lead in a boy’s leg bones and aggressive and delinquent behavior in a study of 212 boys. It is believed that babies are especially susceptible to lead poisoning from paint dust as they crawl around in older homes. Laws now exist that prohibit painting with lead based paint. However, many older homes have underlayers of lead based paints that produce dangerous dust in the course of remodelling or normal wear and tear of the building.

Mr. Gordon Lund of the Salt Lake County Health Department has aided in formulating a service project in which Chem 121 students will determine the prevalence of lead metal in house paint in the lower “Avenues” neighborhood of Salt Lake City. As many as 80% of the lower “Avenues” homes are thought to have been painted with lead paint. However, only a dozen children in Salt Lake City have been identified as suffering from the effects of elevated blood lead levels. This fortunate paradox raises an interesting question: Are fewer homes actually contaminated with lead paint than has been speculated? Our Chemistry 121 students are in a position to provide an answer to that public health question. Students enrolled in the service-learning section of undergraduate general chemistry will receive instruction regarding health hazards arising from deteriorating lead paint in older homes. These students will go door to door in teams of two during daylight hours distributing a one-page description of lead paint health hazards and asking adult householders in an assigned “Avenues” neighborhood for permission to sample house paint. Students will assure the householder that only the householder will receive address specific information about the lead content of the sampled paint.

The students will determine whether collected paint samples contain lead in the freshman chemistry laboratory. The professor and the students will prepare a report for Mr. Lund that does not disclose addresses but does give the number of houses sampled and the number that had lead paint in a multiblock area bounded by specified streets.

The business of collecting paint samples and analyzing them for lead content in a student laboratory poses no greater risk than is normally encountered by students completing undergraduate chemistry laboratory exercises. Samples will be coded so that students will not analyze the specific samples they have collected and thus will not know which specific houses have lead contaminated paint. Feedback to householders will be by1st class U.S. mail from the professor.

The Chem. 121-3 service-learning students will be tested at the beginning and the end of the academic term to determine whether their attitudes toward service-learning have changed because of their participation in the service project. Anonymity of the students will be preserved in this testing process.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL STUDENTS:
The text assignment should be read before the lecture. Problem assignments are due at the recitation section on the day noted in the syllabus.

Students can repeat one examination (1st, 2nd, or 3rd hour exam) on Tuesday, December 3, at 5:30 p.m. This exam can take the place of the earlier exam (if you get a higher score). If you have missed an earlier exam because of an illness or an emergency, then this exam is taken as a make-up. The room assignment for the make-up exam will be given later.

The last day for a withdrawal from this class is Friday, November 8. After this date, a withdrawal will only be given for extenuating circumstances (not including poor academic performance) approved by your College dean. (Your instructor’s approval is no longer required.)

To receive credit for the course, it is necessary to complete with a passing grade at least 3 of the 4 non service learning labs since the laboratory is a very important part of the course. Completing only three rather than all 4 labs will naturally result in a significantly lower laboratory grade.

In addition to all the examination, problem assignments, lectures, and laboratory exercises noted in the Chem 121 2 syllabus, all Chem 121-3 students will be required to do the following:

1. Sign a waiver that absolves the University and its employees of responsibility for any problem or accident arising from your collecting and analyzing paint samples. (If you are under 18 years of age, the waiver form must also be signed by your parent or guardian.)

2. Attend special seminars in which local experts will describe the lead metal environmental problem and how it is monitored.

3. Keep a short handwritten “journal” with no fewer than 5 total entries describing your service-learning experiences, the amount of time you spent on each, and your feelings about the project. (Journals will be collected the first time on Oct. 22 with no fewer than three entries.)

4. Participate in several reflection sessions with other Chem 121-3 students in which you will discuss your impressions of the service-learning project and your participation in it.

5. Prepare a typed 400 word essay describing some aspect of lead paint environmental contamination and the potential consequences. The essay must be turned in at your discussion class on Tuesday, October 8. (This early deadline assures that you will have a good understanding of the public health aspects of lead paint in homes before you collect samples.)

6. Go in teams of two door-to-door in an assigned “Avenues” neighborhood distributing a flyer that describes lead paint hazards and seeking permission to collect paint samples. Where written permission is granted you will collect samples, bag them and log the location and date.

7. Analyze paint samples for lead in the student laboratory. (To accommodate this added lab work you will begin attending your laboratory exercises on October 1, three weeks ahead of the Chem 121-2 students.)

Your letter grade for Chem 121-3 will be assigned on the basis of the following possible point scores:

First Hour Exam, Tuesday, October 15 at 5:30 p.m. 100 points
Second Hour Exam, Tuesday, November 5 at 5:30 p.m. 100 points
Third Hour Exam, Tuesday, November 26 at 5:30 p.m. 100 points
Final Exam, Wednesday, December 11, 3:15 – 5:15 p.m. 100 points
Total Possible Exam Points 400 points

Possible Number of Discussion Points 100*, **
Possible Number of Laboratory Points 75*
Possible Number of Essay Points 50
Possible Number of Journal Points 35
Possible Number of Reflections Points 50
Total Possible Points 710

*All discussion class and laboratory points will be normalized. The overall class average for lab and discussion will be approximately 70%. Points for individual discussion classes and lab classes may be raised or lowered depending on the “toughness” or “easiness” of the T.A. and on the performance of each section. The T.A. will give several written quizzes in your discussion section during the quarter that will be the primary basis of your discussion grade.

**Problems which have been assigned from the textbook should be solved in a notebook which is used for this purpose only. These problems should be attempted before going to the discussion class. The notebook should be taken with you each time to the discussion class.

Approximately 10 points of the final examination will involve questions from the laboratory portion of the course. The final examination will include questions from all 7 textbook chapters as well as materials related to the lead paint service project. The final examination will consist only of multiple choice questions.