Welcome to NitrogenFixers.org

Learn about current scientific problems and how researchers are working to solve them

See the scientific method in action

Become a scientist by doing experiments of your own to learn how to solve real world problems

What is nitrogen fixing?

Nitrogen is one of the most abundant elements and makes up approximately 78% of our atmosphere. As a gas, nitrogen is very unreactive and difficult to utilize. However, bacteria can "fix" this nitrogen and chemically transform nitrogen from air into ammonia (NH₃) or other compounds which constitute the basic building blocks of life like amino acids and proteins. Ammonia is an essential chemical for human life on earth, as it is a fertilizer necessary for growing the food necessary to sustain the global population!


How can we teach the importance of sustainability?

This website serves as a hub for resources and activities aimed at promoting education and awareness surrounding sustainable chemistry. The demonstrations, experiments, and lessons included here are targeted at  middle school, high school, and honors high school students. We hope you find this website educational!

Sustainability can take many forms, including buying locally produced goods and recycling waste. Chemists also pursue sustainability by designing new ways to make useful products such as clean fuel without making byproducts that harm the environment.

Critical Aspects of Sustainability (CAS) is a collaboration which aims to develop sustainable ways to produce ammonia. In 2020, industrial synthesis of this important chemical released 500 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere: a huge and unsustainable amount! By performing the demonstrations on this website, you can learn about approaches to solving this problem with chemistry.

The activities included in this website cover a variety of chemical concepts which meet different learning objectives across a variety of age levels, including:

And more! To get started click the links below:

Want to bring this program to your school or home?

Teachers and parents, head to our contact us page to get started!