The basis of this senior project is to adapt a variety of laboratory procedures from a collegiate level to a high school level. The purpoase of this project is to prepare myself for an upcoming career in education focusing on high school chemistry, as well as offer the University new approaches to laboratory topics. The laboratory procedures may deal with, but are not limited to water chemistry, acid base reactions/titrations, comparing levels of toxic/harmful gases in ambient air from different local sectors, and forensic chemistry.
The actual lab procedure will be researched from such publications as Journal of Chemical Education, and other sources. After the procedure is reviewed, the lab will be adapted to a high school level based on the chemicals and apparatus available to high schools. The procedures will then be performed to look for any possible flaws, and the results from each lab will be recorded and compared to any published research.
Each experiment will have some "real-life" application, whether it is how much carbon monoxide is present in the basement air of a student's house, or how levels of poisons are determined in autopsy cases. The goal of the labs is to show students how chemistry is present in their everyday life.