In this video, students will learn about the ability of CFCs to destroy ozone molecules in our upper atmosphere.
The video discusses the historic use of CFCs, the chemical equations associated with ozone depletion, and the Montreal Protocol.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The video builds connections between chemistry, history, and civics.
Professor Grossman highlights the essential role public policy and global coordination played in solving the ozone depletion crisis.
Additional Prerequisites
The video and transcript are available to download.
The video on the MIT site does not have closed captioning or subtitles. However, a YouTube version of the video with closed captioning and auto-translate subtitles can be accessed by clicking the YouTube icon in the bottom right corner of the video.
Some content presented is copyrighted and is not in the public domain or CC licensed.
Students should already be familiar with absorption lines, the Bohr model, and writing chemical equations.
Differentiation
This resource is best suited for use in AP, IB, or college chemistry courses and will need additional context or materials to support student learning.
This video can be used after learning about degradation reactions, catalytic cycles, absorption lines, and/or the Bohr model to illustrate the importance of these topics with a real-world application.
Teachers will likely need to explain concepts beyond what is presented in the video, especially for the chemical equations and the solar radiation spectrum. Consider playing the video multiple times so students can process the information and identify questions they still have.
Scientist Notes
This video on solid-state chemistry introduces students to understand the effects of CFCs on stratospheric ozone. This ozone protects humans from harmful UV radiation and limits the possibility of skin cancer. When an electron absorbs energy, it becomes radical, free and breaks away, thus allowing ozone to absorb a significant proportion of UV radiation on the Earth's surface. The ban on CFCs from the Montreal protocol prevented the depletion of the ozone layer. Although, this resource is recommended for teaching, it requires additional materials or module to further explain the topic for students' comprehension.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
PS1: Matter and its Interactions
HS-PS1-1 Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms.
HS-PS1-2 Construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, trends in the periodic table, and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties.
