Microscience in the IYPT and the anthropocene epoch

Abstract

The International Year of the Periodic Table of the Chemical Elements recognizes the development of the Table as one of the most significant achievements in science. The development was achieved by a hands-on, minds-on approach to chemistry, an approach to learning that can be facilitated today with microscale chemistry. The development yielded a cornucopia of benefits, but the global population is now getting so large that we have gradually moved into the Anthropocene Epoch. In this Epoch we have to learn how to live for sustainability, and chemistry education must be part of this learning. The importance of microscale chemistry is increased in this context and, acknowledging the need for systems thinking, it should evolve into One-World Microscience.