Unit Synopsis
In Environmental Chemistry, you will examine how chemical processes shape the condition of the environment and influence the decisions we make about managing land, water and energy. You will explore why certain problems emerge, how we detect them and what chemistry can tell us about the best way to respond. You will begin by looking at the major environmental spheres and the standards used to judge environmental quality. From there, you will investigate natural waters and the chemical signals that reveal whether an aquatic system is healthy or under stress. You will also study acid mine drainage and other forms of contamination to understand how pollutants move and why some sites are harder to remediate than others. As the term continues, you will turn your attention to the atmosphere. You will explore the chemistry behind ozone loss, air pollution, smog and the greenhouse effect, and you will examine the evidence that links human activity to climate change. You will then consider how energy choices, industrial processes and natural systems interact to influence emissions and long-term environmental quality. You will also work with the chemistry of toxic metals, sampling needs and environmental monitoring before finishing with radioactivity and risk communication. By the end of the term, you will be able to interpret environmental data and explain the chemical behaviour that drives major environmental issues.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 2 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Pre-requisites: CHEM11043 Atoms, Molecules and Matter 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). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 1 - 2026 Profile
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).
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.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Written Assessment | 30% |
| 2. Presentation | 50% |
| 3. Online Test | 20% |
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%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site.
Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 0.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 25% response rate.
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.
Source: Reflective practice
Students often lack sufficient numeracy skills to understand some of the content or apply theory in a quantified manner.
A conversation about equipping students with mathematical skills should be undertaken at Course level to address the deficiency.
This conversation is continuing at a Course level.
Source: Reflective practice
Recent environmental concerns are not covered in the Unit.
More recent environmental concerns (e.g. emerging contaminants, microplastics, PFAS/PFOS/PFOA) should also be included in the content.
This content should be included when the unit content is reviewed and the lectures are re-recorded.
Source: Unit feedback
The textbook has been unavailable at times.
A conversation with the Bookshop has begun to identify and address any issues regarding the procurement of the textbook for future offerings.
The textbook is now available online through the CQU library.
Source: Student feedback
Some students requested more worked examples for the mathematical-based questions.
Review tutorial content to provide further worked examples where possible. Consider options for additional mathematical support for students.
In Progress
Source: Student feedback
Some students experienced confusion with the lecture material labelling and understanding background textbook readings.
Review and update the organisation of unit content as necessary. Provide resources for key concept review.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Explain the chemical principles relating to the chemistry of the different spheres of the environment: atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere
- Apply environmental chemical concepts and analytical reasoning to interpret water, air, soil, and pollutant information, and evaluate environmental quality using scientifically valid approaches
- Describe 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.
Nil.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Presentation | • | • | • | • |
| 3 - Online Test | • | • | • | |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | ||
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | ||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | |
| 5 - Team Work | • | |||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | ||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |