The recent acquisition, at Edgewood College, of an atomic absorption spectrometer allows students to perform experiments and undertake projects involving trace metals in biological and environmental samples. In an integrated, interdisciplinary course for non-science and teacher education majors, students carry out projects involving the analysis of trace amounts of heavy metal pollutants (lead uptake in plants and mercury in human hair). In chemistry courses, students determine metal ions in biological fluids, and pursue student-originated projects to investigate mercury contamination of water supplies and fish in Wisconsin waterways. Non-science majors studying geoscience gain an appreciation for atomic absorption spectroscopy as a powerful tool in geochemistry and chemical oceanography by investigating trace inorganic nutrients in natural waters and determining the trace metal chemistry of rock and ore samples. This project helps to meet a need for instrumentation-based laboratory experiences which excite the imagination of non-science majors and improve the science education of our future teachers. About 75% of the students directly impacted are women. Publication of experiments developed will extend the impact of the project.
