Incorporation of Phytoremediation Strategies into the Introductory Chemistry Laboratory

Abstract

An undergraduate laboratory exercise appropriate for introductory chemistry courses at the high school or college level is presented. The objective of the laboratory is to introduce the idea that plants can be used to remove contaminants from the environment–a process called phytoremediation. This laboratory connects the disciplines of chemistry and biology while enabling students to learn the skills of measurement, titration, calculation of molarity of an unknown solution, graphing, and interpretation of data.