Environmental Chemistry (6 cr)

Objectives (course unit)

After completing this course student:
-has basic knowledge in organic chemistry and biochemistry
- understands and can explain environmental pollution phenomena, like acid rain, global warming, ozone destruction. Is familiar with the main classes of organic pollutants
- is familiar with volumetric and instrumental analytical methods and can apply them in practise.

Content (course unit)

hydrocarbons, organic compounds with functional groups, organic pollutants, volumetric analysis, spectroscopy, chromatography.

Prerequisites (course unit)

5E00BF56 Basic Chemistry, 5E00BG51 Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry or corresponding courses

Exam schedules

Two partial exams: one in the middle and the second at the end of the course. Retakes will be agreed later.

Evaluation methods and criteria

Grading scale is 0-5. The course grade will form according to the points collected as follows:
- short assignments containing the home exercises which are given weekly: max. 20 points
-group task, max.10 points
-6 compulsory laboratory exercises and related reporting: max.30 points
-Exam ( given in two parts): max. 20 +20 = 40 points
Grading: grade 0: 0-29 points; grade 1: 30-44 points; grade 2: 45-59 points; grade 3:60-74 points; grade 4: 75-89 points; grade 5: 90-100 points.

Teaching methods

Contact teaching, exercises,group work, self study, assignments, laboratory exercises, reporting, exam

Learning materials

Handouts ( and exercises) and additional material posted in Tabula

Student workload

Contact lessons and discussions 43 h
Laboratory exercises 36 h
Self-study 78 h
Exam and feedback 5
Total 162 h

Content scheduling

Hydrocarbons, functional compounds (alcohols, aldehydes and ketones, carboxylic acids, esthers, amines, amides, halogenated compounds), biochemistry (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids). Overview of the most important environmental pollutants. Overview of chemical processes in the environment. Volumetry, chromatography, atomic absorbtion spectroscopy, indicator microorganisms and related laboratory exercises.

Further information

Learning goals
-to know the different groups of hydrocarbons, compounds with functional groups, large molecular compounds of biological importance – their properties, naming and roles
-to understand the mechanisms of environmental pollution and to know the main pollutants of air, water and soil
-to understand the fundamentals of qualitative, quantitative and instrumental analysis
-to be familiar with volumetric and some instrumental analytical methods and to apply them in practice

Assessment criteria - satisfactory (1-2) (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

The student passed the safety exam before starting the laboratory work and participated in the laboratory work and did the laboratory reports. Student participated in the exam.
Overall the achieved competence is sufficient but narrow. Student shows throughout the course (assignments, classroom discussions, laboratory exercises and exam) that:
-is familiar with the basic concepts and phenomena related to the subjects discussed during the course: main classes of hydrocarbons and functional compounds, main classes of (organic) pollutants and environmental processes
- can solve model exercises correctly
-can perform volumetric, instrumental and simple microbiological analyses of soil samples or various water samples under supervision
-has basic skills in reporting the results of the analysis

Assessment criteria - good (3-4) (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

The student passed the safety exam before starting the laboratory work and participated in the laboratory work and did the laboratory reports. Student participated in the exam.
Overall the achieved competence is structural. Student shows throughout the course (assignments, classroom discussions, laboratory exercises and exam) that:
-is fluent in the basic concepts and phenomena related to the subjects discussed during the course: main classes of hydrocarbons and functional compounds, main classes of (organic) pollutants and environmental processes
-can solve model exercise and new exercises correctly, based on given models is able to write chemical reactions of the organic compounds correctly (oxidation, reduction, addition, esterification, peptide formation….)
-can perform volumetric, instrumental and simple microbiological analyses of soil samples or various water samples independently
-the reporting of the laboratory results shows that the student attends to apply the theoretical knowledge in explaining the results
-student is clearly motivated and interested in the subjects discussed

Assessment criteria - excellent (5) (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

The student passed the safety exam before starting the laboratory work and participated in the laboratory work and did the laboratory reports. Student participated in the exam.
Overall the achieved competence is wide. Student shows throughout the course (assignments, classroom discussions, laboratory exercises and exam) that:
-is fluent in the basic concepts and phenomena related to the subjects discussed during the course: main classes of hydrocarbons and functional compounds, main classes of (organic) pollutants and environmental processes
-can solve model exercise and new exercises correctly, shows creativity in solving tasks, is able to write chemical reactions of the organic compounds correctly (oxidation, reduction, addition, esterification, peptide formation….) independently
-can perform volumetric, instrumental and simple microbiological analyses of soil samples or various water samples independently
-understands the background of the analytical method
-the reporting of the laboratory results shows that the student can apply the theoretical knowledge in explaining the results
-student is clearly motivated and interested in the subjects discussed, eventually brings up new subjects of interest