No products in the cart.
Welcome to grade 12 chemistry where you will learn both about the science of chemistry as well as the connections between chemistry and social and environmental issues.
To begin, take a look around you, how many items made of plastic can you see?
Plastics have inundated our lives and become so ubiquitous that it is hard to imagine life without them, from heart valves and blood bags in the medical industry to food storage, waste removal and everything in between, plastics are everywhere. While the development of plastics has certainly had a positive impact on a wide range of industries and everyday conveniences, it is impossible to turn a blind eye to the prolific environmental concerns associated with plastic pollution.
Plastics were not widely available until the 1950s, but since then no corner of our planet has remained untouched by these compounds. Plastics are now found in remote arctic regions, deep ocean trenches, in tap water, bottled water, seafood and even salt. In Canada, only 11 percent of all plastic waste is recycled and worldwide an estimated 8 million tons are dumped into the oceans each year.
These plastics then enter marine ecosystems, condemning seabirds and marine animals to death by entanglement, starvation or poisoning. We clearly have a problem with plastic and it’s a relationship that will continue to have long-term devastating impacts on ecosystems, marine wildlife and even potentially human health unless we can find constructive solutions to our global plastic addiction.
Many of the plastics that we encounter every day, including plastic bags and bottles, are made from polyethylene, an organic compound composed of long chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms. In this unit you will learn more about organic compounds, including their structures, functions, and the positive and negative effects that these molecules can have on the world around us.
Notebook
In this course you will need to keep an updated notebook to make notes on what you are learning, compile research and organize what you’ve learned in this course. You may choose to use a hard copy notebook (paper and pen), use a word processing tool for your notebook, or a combination of both -whatever best supports your learning. In your daily life, you may have heard the term “organic”. Think about the contexts in which you’ve heard that term. What comes to mind? In your notebook, create a mind map, list or brainstorm that captures all the things you associate with the term “organic”.
Do you need some help with mind maps?
What a mind map is and how to make one
A mind map or concept map is a diagram that represents information symbolically, by association of ideas rather than by following strict logical rules. Figure 1 shows the structure of a generic mind map. Figure 2 is a mind map about the topic that we have just explored; plastics. (Press on each image to see an enlarged version).
Figure 1
Figure 2
Mind map
To create your own mind map with ideas that you associate with the term “organic” you may choose to use the Mind Map Tool or another e-tool for creating mind maps (Word, Google Docs, Google Drawings, Mindomo). You may create this mind map however you like. You may use pen and paper or you may choose to use a computer program/digital tool. Another option would be to use index cards to write the terms on them and then organize them on a table and take a picture when complete. This could be done with “sticky notes” on a wall too.
Now that you have thought about and recorded all the things that you associate with the term “organic”, research this term using the internet or any other resources. Find out what organic compounds are and some common uses for organic compounds.
Consider how this information changed your understanding of the term “organic”.