Overview
This unit examines air pollution: ozone depletion, sulfur oxides, photochemical smog and greenhouse effects; water pollution; inorganic and organic pollutants, surfactants and detergents; hazardous wastes: classification, treatment, disposal; pollution monitoring: sampling procedures, analytical methods and modelling techniques. The ecological and health effects of chemical pollution are presented and discussed. Renewable energy and energy utilisation is investigated. Distance education students will be required to attend a residential school for this unit.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Prerequisites: CHEM11041 Chemistry for the Life Sciences
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2018
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Residential Schools
This unit has a Compulsory Residential School for distance mode students and the details are:
Click here to see your Residential School Timetable.
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Have your say
Forums need to be integrated
Using 1 forum will be an approach for next year's offering.
Feedback from Have your say
Lecturer referred to previous knowledge being required in chemistry
Chemistry team are currently redeveloping the scaffold for previous knowledge to seamlessly bridge across advanced units in chemistry.
- Understand the chemical principles relating to the chemistry of the different spheres of the environment: atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere.
- Use laboratory skills to make reliable analytical measurements to assess the quality of water, air, soil and food sources.
- Be familiar with the important environment regulating authority and environmental guidelines.
- Use research skills to obtain information relating to environmental chemical concepts, environmental issues and current approaches to solve these.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 25% | ||||
| 2 - Practical and Written Assessment - 25% | ||||
| 3 - Examination - 50% | ||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | ||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | ||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | ||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | ||||
| 5 - Team Work | ||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | ||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | ||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | ||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | ||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 25% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Practical and Written Assessment - 25% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Examination - 50% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
Environmental Chemistry
Edition: 5 (2012)
Authors: Colin Baird and Michael Cann
Freeman
New York New York , USA
ISBN: 978-1-4292-7704-4
Binding: Other
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Vancouver
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
s.chandra@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Water: acid-base chemistry of natural waters
Chapter
Supplement lecture material with textbook (Baird & Cann): Chapters 10, 3
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Water: Redox chemistry of natural waters
Chapter
10
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Water: Water pollution and water purification
Chapter
11
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Water: BOD/COD, Nutrients, Hydrological cycle
Chapter
10, 11
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Air: Stratospheric chemistry; ozone holes
Chapter
1, 2, 17
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Module 2
Air: Oxygen chemistry and the stratosphere
Chapter
1, 2, 17
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Air: Ground-level air pollution; environmental & health consequences
Chapter
3, 4
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Air: Ground-level air pollution; environmental & health consequences
Chapter
3, 4
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment Task 1 due Monday, 11:55 pm
Module/Topic
Module 3
Energy & Climate Change: greenhouse effect; fossil-fuel energy; carbon dioxide emissions; global warming
Module 4 - Ecological & human health: Toxic organic compounds
Chapter
5, 6, 7, 8
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Module 3
Energy & Climate Change: Renewable energy, alternative fuels & the hydrogen economy
Chapter
5, 6, 7, 8
Events and Submissions/Topic
Assessment Task 2 due Wednesday, 11:55 pm
Written Assessment 2 Due: Week 10 Tuesday (15 May 2018) 11:55 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Module 4
Ecological & human health: Toxic heavy metals
Chapter
12
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Module 4
Ecological & human health: Wastes, soils and sediments
Chapter
16
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Previous Student Feedback
Definitely assignment 2 needs improvement - it could have easily been improved with clearer communication on what is desired.
Response
More clarity will be provided on the expectations around Assessment Task 2 on Day 1 and Day 3 of the Residential School
1 Written Assessment
This assessment task relates to the Unit Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 4. It is to be submitted online through the Moodle support site for this unit.
This assessment task requires some research (i.e. you need to consult references outside of the textbook; however, do not limit yourself to the internet). It is important to start on this assessment task as early as possible. Remember to always cite your sources throughout your report.
There are four parts to Assessment Task 1, requiring you to solve numerical and descriptive problems.
Week 5 Friday (6 Apr 2018) 11:59 pm AEST
Submitted via Moodle
Week 7 Friday (27 Apr 2018)
As stated on Assessment 1 Information sheet on Moodle
Clear organisation and presentation of material; conciseness, particularly in presentation of data (10%).
Reliability of information/data and completeness of any required calculations (40%).
Sound reasoning based on scientific (i.e. chemical and environmental) principles in any discussions; good integration of information (40%).
Use of relevant and reliable sources of information, with proper citation of any sources used (10%).
- Understand the chemical principles relating to the chemistry of the different spheres of the environment: atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere.
- Be familiar with the important environment regulating authority and environmental guidelines.
- Use research skills to obtain information relating to environmental chemical concepts, environmental issues and current approaches to solve these.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
2 Practical and Written Assessment
The objective of this assessment task is to produce a 10 page laboratory report. This report will comprise of the chemical analyses you have carried out during the residential school. It is important to include ‘processed’ data only. Raw data will not be accepted in this report.
Vancouver or Numerical Referencing required.
Week 10 Tuesday (15 May 2018) 11:55 pm AEST
Week 12 Tuesday (29 May 2018)
Title, Aim and Introduction to practical exercise: 25 marks
Outline of procedure (exact and with sufficient detail and clarity to be reproduced in another laboratory): 15 marks
Data organisation (tabulated, graphed for clarity): 15 marks
Data verification (accuracy and precision estimation): 15 marks
Comparison of data with other similar work, calculations etc.: 15 marks
Overall presentation of report, citations and referencing: 15 marks
- Use laboratory skills to make reliable analytical measurements to assess the quality of water, air, soil and food sources.
- Use research skills to obtain information relating to environmental chemical concepts, environmental issues and current approaches to solve these.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Team Work
- Information Technology Competence
- Ethical practice
Examination
Calculator - all non-communicable calculators, including scientific, programmable and graphics calculators are authorised
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
