How do organic chemists contribute sustainable solutions?: a student-driven Organic Chemistry I research project based in the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Rebecca E. Black

New College of Florida

Incorporating activities related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be a powerful tool to motivate students to take action and apply what they are learning in their chemistry classes to solve global problems. Certainly, these complex problems will require decades of work and a global network of scientists to solve. It is never too early for our students to begin problem solving toward these goals! In this presentation, I will present on a student-driven research project, Sustainability Through Organic Chemistry, that I developed and implemented in my Organic Chemistry I class at New College of Florida in Fall 2021. In this scaffolded project, students reflected on the UN SDGs and defined problems that must be solved to achieve a chosen SDG. They then found and read published research articles to find recent examples of ways that organic chemists are tackling related problems. Students then summarized and presented their findings to their peers during class. Importantly, by completing this project, students developed transferrable academic and professional success, including problem solving, information literacy, and written & oral communication. In this presentation, I will discussion a timeline and details about assignments scaffolded throughout the semester as well as project and student outcomes.