ESC 310 Environmental Chemistry course syllabus
Spring 2013
Meeting times: Monday and Wednesday 9:30–10:45 a.m. Trumbower 305
Instructor: Dr. Jason Kelsey
Office: NSB 302
Office phone: 484-664-3144
Email: kelsey@muhlenberg.edu
Web page: http://www.muhlenberg.edu/depts/interdis/envisci/faculty/index.html
Instructor scheduled office hours:
M 12:15–1:30
W 12:15–1:00
(Drop in other times)
OR: by appointment
REQUIRED TEXT
Pepper, Gerba, Brusseau (eds.). 2006. Environmental pollution science. Academic Press.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
(1) Understand the chemistry of soil, air, and water;
(2) Understand the mechanisms by which pollutants can affect the quality of soil, air, and water;
(3) Understand the connections among soil, air, and water, and the movement of elements among them;
(4) Understand the major sources of energy and the environmental impacts of each.
(5) Give a formal presentation in environmental chemistry
GRADING POLICY
Grading will be based on the following:
Exam 1:
Exam 2:
Exam 3:
Exam 4:
Cumulative final exam:
Presentation:
Pollution News Reports
Class participation:
13%
15%
15%
15%
20%
10% (see page 4 for explanation)
7% (see page 4 for explanation)
5%
Note the following policies.
•Students will receive a 0 for each missed exam. If an exam is missed due to a documented
emergency, the remaining exams will each be given more weight. There are two exceptions to
this rule: 1) all students must take the final exam; 2) you may not miss more than 1 exam. If you
do not take the final exam as scheduled and/or if you miss more than 1 exam, you will receive a 0
for the exams you miss.
•In general, make-up exams are NOT given. However, at the discretion of the instructor,
make-up exams may be given in absolute extreme emergencies. The desire to extend vacations is
an example of an UNACCEPTABLE reason to ask for a make-up exam. Most reasons fall into
the UNACCEPTABLE category; in other words, make-up exams are the very rare exception,
NOT the rule. In any case, no student will be given more than 1 make-up exam. You should
expect to take the exams as they are scheduled.
•Class attendance is mandatory. Students may miss 2 class meetings without penalty; thereafter,
the final course average will be reduced by 2 points for each unexcused absence.
1
•The class participation grade will depend on the degree to which a student contributes
positively to the learning environment. Therefore, both insufficient and negative participation
will lower the class participation grade.
•Course unit instruction information (as required by the credit hours provision of the Higher
Education Opportunity Act of 2011). This class is scheduled to meet for 3 hours per week.
Additional instructional activities for the course include individual and group projects outside of
class. Two types of assignments will be given to account for this time: Pollution News Reports
and Presentations. These activities will add an additional 14 hours of instruction to the course (to
make it equivalent to a 4-credit course). See pp. 3–4 for more information.
•Turn off cell phones during class. No text messaging will be allowed during class.
•Final letter grades will be assigned as follows (numbers are percentages of the total number of
points available).
A
AB+
B
94.0 or higher
90.0-93.9
87.0-89.9
83.0-86.9
BC+
C
C-
80.0-82.9
77.0-79.9
73.0-76.9
70.0-72.9
D
60.0-69.9
F
below 60.0
•If you have a problem with the schedule or the syllabus, you must contact the instructors during
the first week of the semester to discuss the conflict. Check the dates of exams now; you will
be expected to adjust your schedule to meet the demands of this course.
LECTURE SCHEDULE
DATE(S)
1/14, 1/16
1/21
1/23
1/28, 1/30
2/4
2/6
2/11
2/13
2/18, 2/20, 2/25
2/27
3/4, 3/6
3/11
TOPIC
Introduction to course;
scope and history of environmental
chemistry; review of important
chemical principles
NO CLASS: MLK holiday
Review of important chemical
principles (continued);
classes, sources, and examples of
important environmental
contaminants
Biogeochemical cycles
EXAM 1
Soil chemistry I: origin and
development of soils
NO CLASS
Soil chemistry II: chemistry of
inorganic and organic fraction of
soils;
pH and buffering capacity of soils
Soil chemistry III: reactions and
fates of pollutants in soils;
discussion of presentations (2/20)
EXAM 2
NO CLASS: spring break
Water chemistry I: chemical and
physical properties of water;
important natural water reservoirs
2
READING
1, 15
9, 10, 11
None
2
6, 7, 8
3
3/13
17, 18
LIST OF PROPOSED
PRESENTATION TOPICS DUE
(4/10)
Water chemistry II: sources, classes,
reactions of pollutants in water
3/18, 3/20
Remediation of polluted soil and
19
water
3/25
Wastewater and drinking water
26, 28
treatment;
Monitoring, assessment, and
regulation of water quality
3/27
EXAM 3
4/1
NO CLASS: Easter break
4/3
Waste management;
25, 27
land application of solid wastes
4/8
4, 22 (skim)
OUTLINE OF
PRESENTATIONS DUE
Atmospheric chemistry I: important
physical and chemical properties of
the atmosphere;
Biological and non-biological forces
affecting the atmosphere;
4/10, 4/15
Atmospheric chemistry II:
23, 24
sources and consequences of air
pollution
4/17
Chemistry of power generation
Handouts
4/22
EXAM 4
4/24
Chemistry of power generation
(continued);
Student presentations
4/29, 5/1
Student presentations
The final exam will be scheduled by the Registrar. You must be prepared to stay on campus through the
end of the final exam period, Friday, 5/10.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT POLLUTION NEWS REPORTS
1. Throughout the term, you will monitor newspapers, internet news sources, TV (etc.) for news stories
about pollution of soil, air, or water. Each student will be expected to find ten stories during the semester
and keep a (typed) log of them. For each entry, briefly describe the news story, the chemical
questions/issues raised by it, and how it affects environmental quality. You will be expected to write one
to two paragraphs for each story. The first five entries will be due on March 18 and the last five will be
due on the last day of class (May 1).
2. Each student will give a brief report (5−7 minutes) to the class on ONE of his or her stories during the
term. A sign-up sheet will be provided.
EXPLANATION OF STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
You will partner with a fellow student in ESC 310 to give a formal 20-minute presentation on a topic in
environmental chemistry (the topic should be chosen in consultation with the course instructor). The
purpose of this exercise is to research an important topic in the field and share the information with the
class. This is also an important component of the CUE requirement for Environmental Science majors,
but it is expected that all students taking this class will participate. After each presentation, members of
the audience will be expected to engage in discussion of the topic. Each presentation will be divided into
3
2 parts: part 1 will consist of the talk given by the presenter; part 2 will last approximately 5 minutes and
will consist of questions for the presenter (from the other students and faculty in the class) and discussion
involving the entire class. Presenters should be prepared to answer logical, relevant questions related to
their topic.
Requirements
• Note due dates for handing in proposed presentation topics and outlines on the syllabus above
• Visuals aids such as overheads, slides, or computer presentation
• Presentations should follow the format outlined by the instructor (to be distributed)
• Reference list to be handed out to every member of the audience
• References should be from the primary, peer-reviewed scientific literature. In other words, use
of the internet is fine for getting general ideas, but students must consult peer-reviewed journals
(paper or on-line) for the majority of the information presented. Government web sites such as
epa.gov are also acceptable. A minimum of 6 references is required for each presentation, and at
least 4 of them must be peer-reviewed journal articles (NOT web addresses).
• Students will be graded on the quality of their presentation (80% of presentation grade) and
participation in the discussion of each presentation (20% of the presentation grade).
SPECIAL NEEDS AND ACCOMMODATIONS
Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should
contact the Office of Academic Support Services (x3433) to obtain guidance and coordinate reasonable
accommodations. Once you have met with Academic Support Services, contact me privately to discuss
your specific needs.
POLICY ON ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
Introduction
Students will be held to the highest standards of ethical behavior. Plagiarism, cheating, lying and
other dishonest behavior will not be tolerated. Muhlenberg has established a strict Academic Behavior
Code (A.B.C.), and students will be expected to abide by it. All students should read the entire code,
which can be obtained through the Dean of The College for Academic Life or accessed through the
Muhlenberg web site (click on ‘Policies and procedures’ from the main page).
A.B.C. summary
Students may NOT, under any circumstances, cooperate with each other on exams. Consultation
on homework sets is acceptable. However, each student must understand the problems and turn in his or
her own homework written in his or her own words. Sources consulted for papers, talks, and other
assignments must be properly cited. Specific guidelines for citation of references will be distributed as
needed, but, in general terms, follow this rule: if you did not write the words or come up with the idea on
your own, you MUST give credit to the person who did write the words or came up with the idea. If you
do not follow that rule, you have committed plagiarism.
Consequences of violations
Students who violate the A.B.C. will be in danger of failing the course. A grade of 0 will be
assigned to the assignment in question (exam, paper, report, etc.), and the matter will be turned over to the
dean for further action (suspension, dismissal, etc.). No warnings or exceptions will be given.
Students will write and sign the following pledge on all exams, papers, and reports handed in for grading:
I pledge that I have complied with the Academic Behavior Code in this work.
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