Issues Investigation

[SirDeadly]

Hey guys, for my year 12 chemistry course we have to do an environmental or social issues investigation. We are required to formulate our own inquiry question and research about that issue. "Students will be required to formulate an inquiry question which enables them to apply their knowledge and understanding of concepts and interrelationships related to an aspect of Social or Environmental Chemistry."

Now I have absolutely no idea what to do for my investigation so I would like some help for ideas. I need a minimum of four resources, including at least one book, magazine or newspaper article, so if you could post a link with your suggestion that would be very helpful.

Thanks everyone!

 

[SirDeadly]

Ideas that my friends have include chlorinating tap water and global warming.

 

[Griphphin]

I had to do a paper in AP chem about the chemical composition of the oil involved in the BP oil spill, and how that effected the environment, along with the dispersants used to combat the spill.
If your teacher is at all left-leaning in her political views when it comes to the environment, it would be an especially desirable topic.

 

[SirDeadly]

I was thinking of the something along the lines of radiation from mobile phones and laptops causing cancers.

My teacher is a male by the way Griphphin.

 

[StBishop]

If you give me your topic once you've settled on one I can have a quick look through my universities database of journal articles/journal articles that my university pays to have access to if you'd like.

I really have no idea, I never did anything even remotely similar to that in any chemistry class. We only learned theories that would be important to understand concepts taught at university really.

I was thinking of the something along the lines of radiation from mobile phones and laptops causing cancers.

My teacher is a male by the way Griphphin.

Isn't radiation more a physics topic?

EDIT: I'm not sure if you're aware but flights in and out of most of the southern cities in Australia and some of the airports in New Zealand have been grounded on and off recently due to ash clouds from a volcanic eruption.

The CSIRO[footnote]Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation[/footnote] recently published an article on the "Environmental geochemistry of recent volcanic ashes from the Southern Andes".

That might be interesting, and if you're not in this region you may be the only one to cover the topic.

ReEdit:

I see you're from Adelaide. Oh well, it's still topical. And you'll have a journal article from the CSIRO to reference.

 

[SirDeadly]

I was thinking of the something along the lines of radiation from mobile phones and laptops causing cancers.

My teacher is a male by the way Griphphin.

Isn't radiation more a physics topic?

Thanks for making me check on that. It comes under nuclear chemistry so I should be able to use my issue idea.

 

[StBishop]

I was thinking of the something along the lines of radiation from mobile phones and laptops causing cancers.

My teacher is a male by the way Griphphin.

Isn't radiation more a physics topic?

Thanks for making me check on that. It comes under nuclear chemistry so I should be able to use my issue idea.

Cool, my bad. To be honest it all comes together anyway I just wasn't sure where the lines are in High school.

I honestly can't remember if we covered radiation in Chemistry or not (although come to think of it, we must have because I've not done any of it in Uni and I know the basics.)

EDIT:
Just putting it out there. this might be helpful for you.

But it's quite old (2002). I'm looking for something more recent. (I'm really fucking bored. I still have 4 weeks of uni holidays.)

REEDIT:
I have a more recent one which is a much easier read but you won't be able to access it online. If you want to PM me your email address or something like that I can send it to you.

 

[SirDeadly]

I was thinking of the something along the lines of radiation from mobile phones and laptops causing cancers.

My teacher is a male by the way Griphphin.

Isn't radiation more a physics topic?

Thanks for making me check on that. It comes under nuclear chemistry so I should be able to use my issue idea.

Cool, my bad. To be honest it all comes together anyway I just wasn't sure where the lines are in High school.

I honestly can't remember if we covered radiation in Chemistry or not (although come to think of it, we must have because I've not done any of it in Uni and I know the basics.)

Just putting it out there. this might be helpful for you.

That actually looks really helpful, thanks a lot! Did this come out of a book or something?

 

[StBishop]

I was thinking of the something along the lines of radiation from mobile phones and laptops causing cancers.

My teacher is a male by the way Griphphin.

Isn't radiation more a physics topic?

Thanks for making me check on that. It comes under nuclear chemistry so I should be able to use my issue idea.

Cool, my bad. To be honest it all comes together anyway I just wasn't sure where the lines are in High school.

I honestly can't remember if we covered radiation in Chemistry or not (although come to think of it, we must have because I've not done any of it in Uni and I know the basics.)

Just putting it out there. this might be helpful for you.

That actually looks really helpful, thanks a lot! Did this come out of a book or something?

Scientific Journal. They're pretty brilliant. If you enjoy it I'd say you'll find research at uni (for undergrad degrees at least) pretty easy if you choose that path.

 

[StBishop]

I was thinking of the something along the lines of radiation from mobile phones and laptops causing cancers.

My teacher is a male by the way Griphphin.

Isn't radiation more a physics topic?

Thanks for making me check on that. It comes under nuclear chemistry so I should be able to use my issue idea.

Cool, my bad. To be honest it all comes together anyway I just wasn't sure where the lines are in High school.

I honestly can't remember if we covered radiation in Chemistry or not (although come to think of it, we must have because I've not done any of it in Uni and I know the basics.)

Just putting it out there. this might be helpful for you.

That actually looks really helpful, thanks a lot! Did this come out of a book or something?

Seeing as you need 4, try this one as well.

 

[SirDeadly]

I was thinking of the something along the lines of radiation from mobile phones and laptops causing cancers.

My teacher is a male by the way Griphphin.

Isn't radiation more a physics topic?

Thanks for making me check on that. It comes under nuclear chemistry so I should be able to use my issue idea.

Cool, my bad. To be honest it all comes together anyway I just wasn't sure where the lines are in High school.

I honestly can't remember if we covered radiation in Chemistry or not (although come to think of it, we must have because I've not done any of it in Uni and I know the basics.)

Just putting it out there. this might be helpful for you.

That actually looks really helpful, thanks a lot! Did this come out of a book or something?

Seeing as you need 4, try this one as well.

I can't use it because I don't have a log in.

 

[StBishop]

I was thinking of the something along the lines of radiation from mobile phones and laptops causing cancers.

My teacher is a male by the way Griphphin.

Isn't radiation more a physics topic?

Thanks for making me check on that. It comes under nuclear chemistry so I should be able to use my issue idea.

Cool, my bad. To be honest it all comes together anyway I just wasn't sure where the lines are in High school.

I honestly can't remember if we covered radiation in Chemistry or not (although come to think of it, we must have because I've not done any of it in Uni and I know the basics.)

Just putting it out there. this might be helpful for you.

That actually looks really helpful, thanks a lot! Did this come out of a book or something?

Seeing as you need 4, try this one as well.

I can't use it because I don't have a log in.

PM me an email address and I'll email the PDF to you.

 

[SirDeadly]

PM me an email address and I'll email the PDF to you.

Thanks for all your help but my chem teacher thought that my topic choice would get a low mark (anything below 80% is a fail to him). I might go with your first idea of the volcano. He wants people to chose similar topics so that the doesn't have to learn as much so it would be a good choice for me to do.

EDIT: I just saw that you're from Perth, Fremantle Dockers ftw!

 

[StBishop]

PM me an email address and I'll email the PDF to you.

Thanks for all your help but my chem teacher thought that my topic choice would get a low mark (anything below 80% is a fail to him). I might go with your first idea of the volcano. He wants people to chose similar topics so that the doesn't have to learn as much so it would be a good choice for me to do.

EDIT: I just saw that you're from Perth, Fremantle Dockers ftw!

I cant understand why he had high standards for marking, you need to get use to aiming for 90% or greater in year 12 so that you are prepared for tertiary studies.

The volcano is pretty cool, did I end up linking you an article on that one?

I laugh at lazy teachers who don't want to research the subject of their students assignment but are willing to make the students research it.

Yeah, I live in between freo and subi. So I'm near both stomping ground and the home stadium.

 

[Lukeje]

I was thinking of the something along the lines of radiation from mobile phones and laptops causing cancers.

My teacher is a male by the way Griphphin.

Isn't radiation more a physics topic?

Thanks for making me check on that. It comes under nuclear chemistry so I should be able to use my issue idea.

I feel a facepalm is in order. It's electromagnetic radiation. Not ionizing radiation.

Edit: not that the two are necessarily mutually exclusive, but the radiation from mobile phones is definitely not of the gamma variety.