Matter That Matters

In this collaborative humanities and chemistry project, students worked in partnerships to investigate a single “problematic” matter or compound and its effect on society historically and currently. For example, students investigated chocolate and its connections to child labor, or carbon and conflict diamonds. The goal was for students to comprehensively understand how certain compounds in our natural world acquire value, and investigate the positive and negative effects of the pursuit of ownership of those compounds. We investigated these Essential Questions: How do natural resources lead to social conflict? How do we determine what is worth “fighting” for? Are there universal commonalities about the competition for resources? How is the importance of a material influenced by its chemistry? Then, students comprehensively researched their topic and crafted an informational article for inclusion in this book. In chemistry class, students investigated the chemical properties of their "matter" and created copper etchings to accompany their writing.