| Summary: | Our professional development workshops have provided participating teachers (inservice and pre-service) with interdisciplinary experiences in earth and environmental science that have built their content into real-world problem based research initiatives (STEM, Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). One of our real-world issues has been the detection of phenol since it has been a concern in the real-world coal mining industry. Coal tars are a complex of variable mixtures of phenols. Phenol and phenol derivative compounds are widely used in the production of polymers, drugs, dyes, explosives, pesticides, stabilizers and antioxidants. These phenolic compounds are discharged into the environment and can represent a serious hazard, mainly by the contamination of superficial and underground waters. The toxic effect of phenol can cause comas, convulsions, cyanosis, liver damage, kidney damage, lung damage and death. The mining industry for coal is an alternative source of energy and used in thermoelectric power plants. However, the pollutant phenol that can be found in coal has high need to be detected and is an important aspect to keep an eye on due to these harmful chemicals such as phenol discharging into the environment. Our inquiry-based labs have engaged our inservice and pre-service students by visiting a mine and learning the positive and negative aspects of mining and the importance of water quality. Thus, this inquiry-based module will illustrate the use of an electrochemistry modified carbon nanotube poly-3-hexylthiophene electrode to detect such harmful chemicals as phenol by unique electrochemistry techniques such as Differential Pulse Voltammetry (DPV).
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