Connecting Chemistry Education and Insects

Abstract

The outreach efforts of the American Chemical Society incorporate two opportunities each year, National Chemistry Week and Chemists Celebrate Earth Week, where chemistry educators can contemplate connections of chemistry content to real-world issues. Often these connections present the possibility of considering both risks and benefits to society associated with the use of chemicals. An example of such a connection is the use of neonicotinoid pesticides that are an important component of pest control strategies in modern agriculture. Looking at the history of the introduction of these chemicals and how they replaced other pesticides provides one component of the way chemical usage can be understood. At the same time, concerns about broad impacts on pollinating insect populations merit significant considerations as well. Thus, the theme of Chemists Celebrate Earth Week in 2022 provides interesting scenarios of how to incorporate societal scale questions in the chemistry classroom.