In an inquiry with young children at a small river beside a school in Cuenca, Ecuador, romanticizations of harmonious childhoods and pristine, even magical, river natures are in abundance. Using common worlds framings, this article interrupts purity in child-nature pedagogies. We argue that encountering the river as a site of contradiction, and as…

In this laboratory activity for introductory organic chemistry, students carry out the tin(II) bis(2-ethylhexanoate)/benzyl alcohol mediated ring-opening polymerization of lactide to form the biodegradable polymer polylactide (PLA). As the mechanism of the polymerization is analogous to that of a transesterification reaction, the experiment can be…

A novel experiment for the extraction of lycopene from tomato paste without the use of an organic solvent is described. The experiment employs polymer, green, and analytical chemistry. This environmentally friendly extraction is more efficient and requires less time than the traditional approach using an organic solvent. The extraction is…