SARS-CoV-2 Chemistry Project
Soap Vs. Hand Sanitizer: How Do They Work to Fight Coronavirus?
Reflection Questions:
How can the lens of chemistry be used to inform societal practice and policy designed to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2?
The lens of chemistry can be used to inform society about SARS-CoV-2 and how to prevent the spread of it by exploring how the virus works in relation to the methods we use to prevent it. There are many everyday methods we use to prevent the spread of the virus: hand washing, hand sanitizer, masks, social distancing, etc.. Most people don’t know about the chemistry behind all of this, and people also don’t know about the chemistry of the virus itself. When we learn more about the chemical structure of the virus in relation to the chemical structure of things like soap and hand sanitizer, we can narrow down the ways these things help to protect us and others from the virus. When people know more about this, societal practice can evolve and we can find more specific and effective ways for combating the virus. People will be able to do more personally to help themselves and others. For example, some people might prefer using hand sanitizer over soap, but when they are informed about how the two actually work against the virus, they can figure out what is actually most effective and change what they can do on an individual level that gradually spreads when more and more people are better informed on how to protect themselves and others. None of my personal beliefs changed, but I now know more about the importance of these everyday simple practices we all use and how they effectively fight the virus.
How did your knowledge of science grow through your work on the project?
I learned more about the chemical structures of the virus, soap, and hand sanitizer during my work on this project. I learned about the polarity of soap and hand sanitizer and the polarity of the ingredients. I learned about how the structure of soap and hand sanitizer molecules interacts with the structure of the virus. I figured out how to do better scientific research, in terms of sources and how to find information. I just generally understand more now about the chemical structure of the things I studied, and how the way it interacts with other things is a lot more complicated than it seems.
This semester in Chemistry we focused on the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 because of its obvious relevance to our lives. In doing this we studied some ideas that would traditionally be studied in biology class, some that would be found in a physics class and some that would be found in a chemistry class. We also read far more news articles and spent more time looking at scientific papers than is typical for a high school chemistry class. The trade-off is that we did not cover as much chemistry content as you would typically see in a chemistry class and we did not do it in an order that is most advantageous to learning chemistry. Please evaluate this pedagogical decision and state whether you believe the benefits of this method outweigh the downsides or not.
I think the benefits of this method outweigh the downsides because I feel like I learned a lot this year the way I was being taught. It was really interesting combining chemistry, biology, and physics and since they all relate it made sense the way we were connecting them. It was also really interesting and intriguing to look at news articles and scientific papers because they were about the real world and we could connect them to personal experiences. I also think that this method was good because of the time we are in right now. Because we are in a pandemic, we were able to look at the scientific side of it and all the aspects of covid and the prevention of the virus. We were able to do this by combining these types of science and looking at real world information. I really enjoyed this method of learning because it was informational but relatable at the same time.
The lens of chemistry can be used to inform society about SARS-CoV-2 and how to prevent the spread of it by exploring how the virus works in relation to the methods we use to prevent it. There are many everyday methods we use to prevent the spread of the virus: hand washing, hand sanitizer, masks, social distancing, etc.. Most people don’t know about the chemistry behind all of this, and people also don’t know about the chemistry of the virus itself. When we learn more about the chemical structure of the virus in relation to the chemical structure of things like soap and hand sanitizer, we can narrow down the ways these things help to protect us and others from the virus. When people know more about this, societal practice can evolve and we can find more specific and effective ways for combating the virus. People will be able to do more personally to help themselves and others. For example, some people might prefer using hand sanitizer over soap, but when they are informed about how the two actually work against the virus, they can figure out what is actually most effective and change what they can do on an individual level that gradually spreads when more and more people are better informed on how to protect themselves and others. None of my personal beliefs changed, but I now know more about the importance of these everyday simple practices we all use and how they effectively fight the virus.
How did your knowledge of science grow through your work on the project?
I learned more about the chemical structures of the virus, soap, and hand sanitizer during my work on this project. I learned about the polarity of soap and hand sanitizer and the polarity of the ingredients. I learned about how the structure of soap and hand sanitizer molecules interacts with the structure of the virus. I figured out how to do better scientific research, in terms of sources and how to find information. I just generally understand more now about the chemical structure of the things I studied, and how the way it interacts with other things is a lot more complicated than it seems.
This semester in Chemistry we focused on the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 because of its obvious relevance to our lives. In doing this we studied some ideas that would traditionally be studied in biology class, some that would be found in a physics class and some that would be found in a chemistry class. We also read far more news articles and spent more time looking at scientific papers than is typical for a high school chemistry class. The trade-off is that we did not cover as much chemistry content as you would typically see in a chemistry class and we did not do it in an order that is most advantageous to learning chemistry. Please evaluate this pedagogical decision and state whether you believe the benefits of this method outweigh the downsides or not.
I think the benefits of this method outweigh the downsides because I feel like I learned a lot this year the way I was being taught. It was really interesting combining chemistry, biology, and physics and since they all relate it made sense the way we were connecting them. It was also really interesting and intriguing to look at news articles and scientific papers because they were about the real world and we could connect them to personal experiences. I also think that this method was good because of the time we are in right now. Because we are in a pandemic, we were able to look at the scientific side of it and all the aspects of covid and the prevention of the virus. We were able to do this by combining these types of science and looking at real world information. I really enjoyed this method of learning because it was informational but relatable at the same time.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp45G8-zx2g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7KKkElpyKQ
https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/hand-sanitizer-use.html
https://www.britannica.com/topic/hand-sanitizer
https://homesteady.com/12000104/the-main-ingredients-in-soap
https://www.brenntag.com/en-us/industries/household-industrial-institutional/chemicals-in-liquid-soap/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7KKkElpyKQ
https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/hand-sanitizer-use.html
https://www.britannica.com/topic/hand-sanitizer
https://homesteady.com/12000104/the-main-ingredients-in-soap
https://www.brenntag.com/en-us/industries/household-industrial-institutional/chemicals-in-liquid-soap/