GRAHAMSTOWN, South Africa, Oct. 24 -- GRAHAMSTOWN, Oct. 20 (UPIU) -- ‘A Pollutant’s Tale’ is a lecture-demonstration that the Rhodes University Chemistry Department and Bristol ChemLabs in the UK use as part of their community engagement commitment, with the aim of informing and enthusing learners and the general public about chemistry and climate change.

The program is focused on informing people, particularly school students, about climate change by presenting the chemistry of gases in an understandable and exciting format. The program was developed by Professor Dudley Shallcross and Tim Harrison from the School of Chemistry, University of Bristol in the UK.

‘A Pollutants Tale’ begins with an introduction to the main gases that are present in the Earth’s atmosphere, in comparison to the other planets in our solar system, to illustrate that this distinctive combination is vital for life on our planet. The presentation continues with a detailed look at each of the most important gases on earth. The chemical and physical properties of these gases, e.g. nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide and the role and effects of tropospheric air pollutants such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and volatile organic compounds on climate change are discussed.

This lecture has been presented 800 times worldwide within the last five years at venues including Ireland, China, Turkey, Malaysia, Australia, Malta, France, Hungary, South Africa, Spain, and more recently in Namibia. In September 2011, ‘A Pollutant’s Tale’ was delivered to close to 4000 school learners in the Eastern and Western Cape regions of South Africa, before crossing our borders to the Namibian National Science Week in Windhoek. Professor Dudley Shallcross, Tim Harrison and postgraduate Ms Sophie Franklin from Bristol University travelled to South Africa to join Mrs Joyce Sewry and Dr. Sunny Sunassee’s outreach team as part of their ongoing support to this local outreach commitment.

According to Joyce Sewry from Rhodes University, the direct effect of presenting this lecture to 800 audiences worldwide is the awareness it creates around climate change. The aim of the program is to excite learners about science and to motivate teachers to teach science and to do experiments with their classes. Tim Harrison adds to this by stating that in addition to this it has allowed students to see live practical demonstrations that they would not have otherwise been exposed to.

According to Professor Shallcross the lecture gives the public, especially school students, an accessible introduction to the science behind climate change. “There are certainly opinions presented, the lecture alone of course will not prevent climate change but if more people understand what it is and how we can combat it then we have some chance that people can start to change their attitude and their practices.”

The performers of ‘A Pollutant’s Tale’ in the UK use the lecture in order to reinforce or introduce climate chemistry required in their science examination specifications. Some of the schools use the climate ideas raised within the lecture to research further climate issues, for example, Lewston School in the UK, used ‘A Pollutant’s Tale’ to stage a conference as part of their National Science Week.

The program also creates an excitement in the students to learn about techniques involved in the analysis of substances, all of which is in the A Level syllabus and helps the students to understand these techniques. (Dr. Kemal, Head of Chemistry, Leweston School)

One of the most recent local demonstrations was held on October 4, in which postgraduate students from the Rhodes University Chemistry Department and Mrs Sewry went to Komga Junior School in Komga where they presented ‘A Pollutant's Tale’ to 220 learners.

Comments from the teachers at Komga Junior School on ‘A Pollutant’s Tale’ were, “the whole demonstration was excellent. It keeps us continually in suspense. If science lessons were presented in a similar manner learners will definitely be hooked on science”

Following the presentation the learners got to engage in experiments in which they were to make slime and determine the concentration of hydrochloric acid in a substance. For the latter, students measured the time it takes for weighed samples of magnesium to dissolve in hydrochloric acid solutions of various concentrations.

For many of the learners taking part in the demonstration and workshop at various schools, it was the first time they had been able to do real chemistry experiments for themselves.

‘A Pollutant’s Tale’ is an exciting and fun demonstrative-lecture that creates an understanding and awareness about atmospheric chemistry, including air pollution, greenhouse gases and climate change.