Chemistry inquiry conducted by secondary school students into material degradation in the context of sustainability

Chemistry is essential for improving the quality of life and reducing pollution, requiring regulations, green innovations, and sustainable action. In this case, chemistry education is key not only for raising environmental awareness, but also for preparing future scientists and informed citizens cap...

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Autores: López Fernández, María del Mar, Cano Iglesias, María José, Franco Mariscal, Antonio Joaquín
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Huelva (UHU)
Repositorio:Arias Montano. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ariasmontano.uhu.es:10272/27521
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10272/27521
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:58 Pedagogía
3303.07 Tecnología de la Corrosión
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spelling Chemistry inquiry conducted by secondary school students into material degradation in the context of sustainabilityLópez Fernández, María del MarCano Iglesias, María JoséFranco Mariscal, Antonio Joaquín58 Pedagogía3303.07 Tecnología de la CorrosiónChemistry is essential for improving the quality of life and reducing pollution, requiring regulations, green innovations, and sustainable action. In this case, chemistry education is key not only for raising environmental awareness, but also for preparing future scientists and informed citizens capable of driving sustainable transformations through green and sustainable chemistry. An inquiry-based learning approach can link chemistry education with sustainability, allowing students to develop scientific skills, environmental awareness, and teamwork while experimenting with real-world problems. One significant environmental issue is the degradation of materials, which affects their chemical structure and functionality, requiring solutions to minimize their environmental impact. This study presents an inquiry conducted by ninth-grade secondary school students on material degradation in the context of sustainability. The inquiry is developed as a collaborative project, with students working together throughout most stages, while some tasks such as data collection and analysis were performed individually to encourage autonomy. Furthermore, the inquiry spans a full quarter, enabling students to observe long-term changes, deepen their understanding of the studied processes, and engage more deeply with the environmental issue. Among their key findings, students concluded that a period of 100 days is insufficient for the complete degradation of paper, cardboard, plastic, and metal, with the latter two showing minimal changes despite exposure to environmental conditions that favor photodegradation (solar radiation), thermal degradation (temperature fluctuations between day and night), hydrolytic degradation (humidity variations on rainy days), biodegradation (fungal growth), and chemical degradation or corrosion. Additionally, they developed explanatory models on material degradation, considering environmental factors and their impacts, which allowed them to reflect on sustainability, responsible consumption, and the importance of green chemistry. This study reveals that the students indirectly reflected on five principles of green chemistry through these findings, namely, waste prevention (principle 1), less hazardous chemical synthesis (principle 3), use of renewable feedstocks (principle 7), design for degradation (principle 10), and real-time analysis for pollution prevention (principle 11), especially during the planning and conclusion phases of the inquiry. Thus, this study concludes that inquiry-based learning is an effective approach that deepens the understanding of material degradation and its environmental impact while fostering the integration of the principles of green chemistry. This approach was well-received by students and encouraged positive emotions.Royal Society of Chemistry20252025-01-0120252025-01-01journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/10272/27521reponame:Arias Montano. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelvainstname:Universidad de Huelva (UHU)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:ariasmontano.uhu.es:10272/275212026-06-02T14:58:11Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Chemistry inquiry conducted by secondary school students into material degradation in the context of sustainability
title Chemistry inquiry conducted by secondary school students into material degradation in the context of sustainability
spellingShingle Chemistry inquiry conducted by secondary school students into material degradation in the context of sustainability
López Fernández, María del Mar
58 Pedagogía
3303.07 Tecnología de la Corrosión
title_short Chemistry inquiry conducted by secondary school students into material degradation in the context of sustainability
title_full Chemistry inquiry conducted by secondary school students into material degradation in the context of sustainability
title_fullStr Chemistry inquiry conducted by secondary school students into material degradation in the context of sustainability
title_full_unstemmed Chemistry inquiry conducted by secondary school students into material degradation in the context of sustainability
title_sort Chemistry inquiry conducted by secondary school students into material degradation in the context of sustainability
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv López Fernández, María del Mar
Cano Iglesias, María José
Franco Mariscal, Antonio Joaquín
author López Fernández, María del Mar
author_facet López Fernández, María del Mar
Cano Iglesias, María José
Franco Mariscal, Antonio Joaquín
author_role author
author2 Cano Iglesias, María José
Franco Mariscal, Antonio Joaquín
author2_role author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv 58 Pedagogía
3303.07 Tecnología de la Corrosión
topic 58 Pedagogía
3303.07 Tecnología de la Corrosión
description Chemistry is essential for improving the quality of life and reducing pollution, requiring regulations, green innovations, and sustainable action. In this case, chemistry education is key not only for raising environmental awareness, but also for preparing future scientists and informed citizens capable of driving sustainable transformations through green and sustainable chemistry. An inquiry-based learning approach can link chemistry education with sustainability, allowing students to develop scientific skills, environmental awareness, and teamwork while experimenting with real-world problems. One significant environmental issue is the degradation of materials, which affects their chemical structure and functionality, requiring solutions to minimize their environmental impact. This study presents an inquiry conducted by ninth-grade secondary school students on material degradation in the context of sustainability. The inquiry is developed as a collaborative project, with students working together throughout most stages, while some tasks such as data collection and analysis were performed individually to encourage autonomy. Furthermore, the inquiry spans a full quarter, enabling students to observe long-term changes, deepen their understanding of the studied processes, and engage more deeply with the environmental issue. Among their key findings, students concluded that a period of 100 days is insufficient for the complete degradation of paper, cardboard, plastic, and metal, with the latter two showing minimal changes despite exposure to environmental conditions that favor photodegradation (solar radiation), thermal degradation (temperature fluctuations between day and night), hydrolytic degradation (humidity variations on rainy days), biodegradation (fungal growth), and chemical degradation or corrosion. Additionally, they developed explanatory models on material degradation, considering environmental factors and their impacts, which allowed them to reflect on sustainability, responsible consumption, and the importance of green chemistry. This study reveals that the students indirectly reflected on five principles of green chemistry through these findings, namely, waste prevention (principle 1), less hazardous chemical synthesis (principle 3), use of renewable feedstocks (principle 7), design for degradation (principle 10), and real-time analysis for pollution prevention (principle 11), especially during the planning and conclusion phases of the inquiry. Thus, this study concludes that inquiry-based learning is an effective approach that deepens the understanding of material degradation and its environmental impact while fostering the integration of the principles of green chemistry. This approach was well-received by students and encouraged positive emotions.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025-01-01
2025
2025-01-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/10272/27521
url https://hdl.handle.net/10272/27521
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Royal Society of Chemistry
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Royal Society of Chemistry
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Arias Montano. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
instname:Universidad de Huelva (UHU)
instname_str Universidad de Huelva (UHU)
reponame_str Arias Montano. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
collection Arias Montano. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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