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Environmental Chemistry | Division of Advanced Education in Science, ADVES

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ADVES

Environmental Chemistry

Experiment in Environmental Chemistry

-Exploring Water Around Us
via Chemical Analysis-

We offer a 4-day intensive practical course in analytical chemistry for 1st and 2nd year undergraduate students. This course is designed to provide the opportunity for students in science as well as humanities majors to experience chemistry experiments through chemical analysis of water samples, and to actively discuss their obtained data.

Students will freely design their experiments through deciding what type of water samples to test, what kind of chemical analyses to conduct, and how to analyze or discuss the obtained data. First, they will set the goals or hypotheses for their own original experiments based on the common subject, "water." Then, they will make a plan on how to achieve their goals or prove their hypotheses. Water samples may be collected from: (1) any buildings, the pond, and/or the stream on campus, (2) anywhere in Japan and/or overseas, and (3) bottled mineral water from anywhere in Japan and/or overseas.

On the final day of the course, each student will give a presentation to share their findings. Each presenter will be evaluated through 360-degree feedback, including peer reviews from other students. Through this process, students will experience research process, and deepen their understanding towards how to design and carry out research. Every year, we receive positive feedbacks from students for letting them freely explore their own projects by providing various resources and thorough support.

Course Schedule

This course is held over 4 full days as an intensive practical course. In Fall 2020, the course was entirely offered online due to the impact of COVID-19. To maintain students' focus, the course schedule was spread over 3 months by partially altering its contents.

Schedule AM PM
Prior to the course
(Optional)
  • - Sampling water
  • - Time-course analysis
Day 1
  • ⓪ Lecture on basic knowledge
  • ① Selecting samples・sampling
  • ② Blind water taste test
  • ③ Qualitative・semi-quantitative analysis
Day 2 Planning and designing experiment
  • ③ Qualitative・semi-quantitative analysis
  • ④ Quantitative analysis
  • ⑤ Data analysis and discussion
Day 3
  • ⑥ Discussion・making presentation slides
  • ⑦ Additional experiments・literature search
  • ⑧ Presentation slide check
Day 4
  • ⑥ Making presentation slides
  • ⑨ Presentation practice
  • ⑩ Presentation (peer-review and 360-degree feedback)

Course Materials

We have developed lab manuals (in Japanese) for the intensive practical course, "Experiment in Environmental Chemistry ーExploring Water Around Us via Chemical Analysisー" and the long-term practical course, "Exploring Water at Komaba-Experiencing Research in ADVES Lab-

See Textbooks for more details.

Experiencing Research at ADVES Lab

Lab Manual for Experiment in
Environmental Chemistry (in Japanese)

We have prepared the lab manual for the intensive practical course, "Experiment in Environmental Chemistry -Exploring Water Around Us via Chemical Analysis-" and the long-term practical course, "Exploring Water of Komaba Campus -Experiencing Research at ADVES Lab-."

See Educational Materials for more details.

Brochure for the Practical Course, Experiment in Environmental Chemistry 2016–2020 (in Japanese)
We have summarized our achievements for developing the practical course, "Experiment in Environmental Chemistry ーExploring Water Around Us via Chemical Analysisー” in a brochure, which was issued in March 2021.
Check out our brochure here (written in Japanese)
Experiment in Environmental Chemistry 2016–2020 (in Japanese)