A Decision-Making Activity to Introduce Life Cycle Assessment

This contribution presents a decision-making activity to introduce novices such as preservice teachers, teachers in professional development, and employees at chemical companies to life cycle analysis as a tool to foster sustainable development. Life cycle assessment is an internationally established process. Teaching life cycle assessment in chemistry education poses unique challenges due to the interdisciplinary nature of the topic and the need for practical application. The decision-making activity aims to (a) foster participants’ ability to describe characteristics of life cycle assessment and (b) allow them to make a decision in a simplified scenario. The activity focuses on system boundaries and the basics of the mechanics of performing life cycle assessment calculations based on established standards. In the activity, students come across evaluating trade-offs and applying critical thinking regarding the comparative scenario that is evaluated. Tasks include solving numerical problems, interpreting graphical data, and discussing potential challenges in product design with a team partner as part of a plenary discussion.