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As one approach to moving beyond transmitting "inert" ideas to chemistry students, we use the term "teaching f rom rich contexts" to describe implementations of case studies or context-based learning based on systems thinking that provide deep and rich opportunities for learning crosscutting concepts through contexts. This approach nurtures the use of higher-order cognitive skills to connect concepts and apply the knowledge gained to new contexts. We describe the approach used to design a set of resources that model how rich contexts can be used to facilitate learning of general chemistry topics. The Visualizing the Chemistry of Climate Change (VC3) initiative provides an exemplar for introducing students in general chemistry courses to a set of core chemistry concepts, while infusing rich contexts drawn from sustainability science literacy. Climate change, one of the defining sustainability challenges of our century, with deep and broad connections to chemistry curriculum and crosscutting concepts, was selected as a rich context to introduce four topics (isotopes, acids−bases, gases, and thermochemistry) into undergraduate general chemistry courses. The creation and assessment of VC3 resources for general chemistry was implemented in seven steps: (i) mapping the correlation between climate literacy principles and core first-year university chemistry content, (ii) documenting underlying science conceptions, (iii) developing an inventory of chemistry concepts related to climate change and validating instruments that make use of the inventory to assess understanding, (iv) articulating learning outcomes for each topic, (v) developing and testing peer-reviewed interactive digital learning objects related to climate literacy principles with particular relevance to undergraduate chemistry, (vi) piloting the materials with first-year students and measuring the change in student understanding of both chemistry and climate science concepts, and (vii) disseminating the interactive resources for use by chemistry educators and students. A novel feature of the approach was to design resources (step v) based on tripartite sets of learning outcomes (step iv) for each chemistry and climate concept, with each knowledge outcome accompanied by an outcome describing the evidential basis for that knowledge, and a third outcome highlighting the relevance of that knowledge for students.

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The flow of materials and energy through society is an integral but poorly visible element of global sustainability agendas such as the Planetary Boundaries Framework and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG). Given that the primary activities of chemistry are to analyze, synthesize, and transform matter, the practice of chemistry has a great deal to contribute to sustainability science, which in turn should play an increasingly important role in reshaping the practice of chemistry. Success in integrating sustainability considerations into the practice of chemistry implies a substantial role for chemistry education to better equip students to address the sustainability of earth and societal systems. Building on the framework of the IUPAC Systems Thinking in Chemistry Education (STICE) project, we develop approaches to using systems thinking to educate students about the molecular basis of sustainability, to assist chemistry to contribute meaningfully and visibly toward the attainment of global sustainability agendas. A detailed exemplar shows how ubiquitous coverage in general chemistry courses of the Haber–Bosch process for the synthesis of ammonia could be extended using systems thinking to consider the complex interplay of this industrial process with scientific, societal, and environmental systems. Systems thinking tools such as systems thinking concept map extension (SOCME) visualizations assist in highlighting inputs, outputs, and societal consequences of this large-scale industrial process, including both intended and unintended alterations to the planetary cycle of nitrogenous compounds. Strategies for using systems thinking in chemistry education and addressing the challenges its use may bring to educators and students are discussed, and suggestions are offered for general chemistry instructors using systems thinking to educate about the molecular basis of sustainability.