Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Green chemistry explores how chemical design can support sustainability, safety, and environmental responsibility. Students learn the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry, systems and life-cycle thinking, and the ethical, ecological, and Indigenous perspectives shaping modern chemical practice. The course emphasizes real-world applications, critical analysis, and responsible scientific decision-making. Breadth-Science.

COURSE DETAILS:

Please note this course outline was accurate at the time of publication but it subject to change.

The 12 Principles of Green Chemistry provide a framework for designing chemical products and processes that reduce waste, minimize hazards, improve efficiency, and decrease environmental impact. While these principles provide an important foundation, CHEM373 explores a broader question: how can chemistry contribute to a more sustainable future?

Students will explore how chemistry influences and is influenced by environmental, social, ethical, and economic systems. Through the lenses of Green Chemistry, life-cycle thinking, systems thinking, and sustainability, the course examines topics such as circular design, hidden environmental costs, impacts on ecosystems and human health, greenwashing, ethics, science communication, and the role of chemistry in addressing contemporary challenges.

AI literacy is integrated throughout the course and serves as a core learning outcome. Students will learn how to use generative AI tools responsibly and effectively while developing the critical-thinking skills needed to evaluate, question, and improve AI-generated information.

Throughout the course, students will engage with real-world case studies and interdisciplinary perspectives, including Indigenous relational ways of knowing, that connect chemistry with environmental stewardship, innovation, communication, ethics, and responsible decision-making.

 

 

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

1. Identify key Green Chemistry principles, sustainability concepts, life-cycle stages, systems-thinking terminology, and responsible AI-use expectations relevant to chemical products, processes, and technologies.
2. Interpret chemical and technological systems, products, and processes as parts of larger environmental, social, ethical, relational, and intergenerational systems.
3. Apply Green Chemistry principles, life-cycle thinking, systems-thinking approaches, and AI-supported inquiry tools to investigate real-world ecological and sustainability challenges.
4. Analyze chemical case studies, sustainability claims, and AI-generated outputs by identifying data, evidence, assumptions, missing context, uncertainty, trade-offs, and potential impacts.
5. Evaluate chemical products, processes, technologies, or design choices using data, evidence, ethical reflection, Indigenous relational perspectives, and long-term responsibility.
6. Create Create an integrative portfolio and applied project that synthesize and communicate a responsible Green Chemistry analysis, proposal, or action pathway.

Grading

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

All required learning materials will be provided through Canvas or linked open-access resources.

Students wishing to explore specific topics in greater depth are encouraged to make use of the extensive electronic resources available through the SFU Library. Relevant books, articles, and multimedia resources related to Green Chemistry, sustainability, life-cycle thinking, systems thinking, Indigenous perspectives, science communication, ethics, and AI literacy may be consulted based on individual interests and chosen project topics.