Content Reviewed: 08/17
AIG Reviewed: 5/14/12
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NCDPI -- AIG Instructional Resource: Background Information
Date Submitted: 4/25/12
Resource Title: What Would We Do Without Haber?
Subject Area/Grade Level (s): Chemistry
Time Frame: 30 minutes in class or as a HW
assignment
Common Core/Essential Standard Addressed: Infer the shift in equilibrium when a stress is applied to a chemical system (Le Chatelier’s
Principle) (Chm.3.1.3)
Additional Standards Addressed: A variety of USH2 and WH standards (mostly those relating to World War I and population growth, although
students may choose to go in many directions historically speaking)
Brief Description of Lesson/Task/Activity:
As an extension of learning about LeChatelier’s Principle and how stressors (changes in temperature, concentration, and pressure) affect
systems at chemical equilibrium, students will learn how the Haber-Bosch process has impacted history. It has been said that the Haber-Bosch
process, developed around 1913, is the most important invention of the 20th Century. Students will write a futuristic or dystopian fiction story
about how the world would be different had the Haber-Bosch process not been developed. Their story may either focus on what would have
happened had the scientists been from different countries or if the process had never been developed at all.
Type of Differentiation for AIGs (include all that apply)
 Extension
x Enrichment
 Acceleration
Adaptations for AIGs
X Content
x Process
x Product
Explanation of How Resource is Appropriate for AIGs
This research and writing assignment is appropriate for AIG students as it gives them the opportunity to predict how failure to discover a
scientific concept would affect the future. Equilibrium and Le Chatelier’s Principle can be quite difficult for students who are not labeled AIG
(due to its abstract nature), and thus it can (depending on the group of students) take quite some time to help students master these concepts.
AIG students, for the most part, find these concepts to be unchallenging, and they can become quite bored with repeated practice that they do
not need. This assignment gives these students the opportunity to explore these concepts in a cross-curricular manner.
Needed Resources/Materials
Access to research materials, including books (see below) and the Internet
Sources (all sources must be cited)
Enriching the Earth: Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production by Vaclav Smil
The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler by Thomas
Hager
TEACHER NOTES
It is recommended that the teacher research the Haber-Bosch process and its impact before teaching this lesson. In short, the Haber-Bosch
process utilizes our understanding of equilibrium and LeChatelier’s principle to maximize the production of ammonia from nitrogen and
hydrogen gas. Under standard conditions, the Keq for this reaction is quite small, and only a small percentage of the expected yield is produced.
To increase the Keq, and thus the yield of the desired product, the temperature is kept relatively low (in comparison to what would normally be
considered appropriate for speeding up reactions), the pressure is increased, and a catalyst is added to maximize the yield of ammonia.
NCDPI AIG Curriculum Resource Outline
Describe processes, steps, and materials needed at each stage of the lesson/activity.
STAGE ONE: Engage
X Hook
X Prior knowledge
 Instructional input
X Modeling
Description:
AIG students should first receive instruction on chemical equilibrium and LeChatelier’s principle along with the other students in the class. Then,
students should be introduced to how the Haber-Bosch process utilizes LeChatelier’s principle as well as catalysts to maximize the production of
ammonia from elemental nitrogen and oxygen. This introduction could be done in a number of ways, including having students simply research
the process on their own or in small groups. In doing this as an introduction, though, initially it would be best to limit students to research
materials that do not discuss the historical impacts of the Haber-Bosch process. Then, ask students to brainstorm ways that this process has
impacted history. This could be done independently or in groups. Students might need to use research materials to discover these impacts.
Once students have a solid foundation, introduce the concept of futuristic or dystopian literature. It might be helpful for students to read
excerpts from books such as A Brave New World or The Hunger Games.
STAGE TWO: ELABORATE
Guided and independent practice
X Guiding questions
Description:
Once students have a solid understanding of futuristic/dystopian literature, ask students to write their own futuristic or dystopian short story in
which the Haber-Bosch process has not been developed or in which it was developed by people from different countries. Ask students to pick a
country from whose perspective they will be writing their story.
Students should consider how things would have been different in three or more of the following respects:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
human population and health
human impact on the environment
foreign relations
development of technology
education and research institutions
religion institutions
STAGE THREE: EVALUATE
X
Assessment
Description:
Design a rubric to evaluate the written product. The rubric should include (but is not limited to) the following criteria: accuracy of science
content; clear demonstration of the link between scientific discovery and history; maintaining the appropriate tone of the futuristic/dystopian
genre; mechanics; and creativity. The product should demonstrate a clear understanding of the Haber-Bosch process and its impact on history.
This assignment gives AIG students to examine the impact that science has on history.
The rubric scale for maintaining the appropriate tone of the futuristic/dystopian genre might include something like:
1 = The writer has not tried to write in the appropriate genre.
2 = The writer has tried to write in the appropriate genre but has broken genre more than three times.
3 = The writer has written in the appropriate genre and has rarely broken genre.
4 = The writer has fully embraced the appropriate genre and has not broken genre.
TEACHER NOTES:
There are many good examples of rubrics that can be found online and in various differentiation resource books.