Haber - The Father of Chemical Warfare

Haber is a name that is heard often in chemistry class because of the Haber process of producing ammonia which earned Fritz Haber a Nobel Prize. Students may not always hear about the other parts of Haber's career and life. The 35 minute docudrama, Haber, follows Haber's life during the early part of World War I in which he was asked to produce the first chemical weapon. This film provides a great opportunity to explore ethical choices in chemistry. A colleague in another state recently told me that she coordinated the viewing of the video with her district's AP History instructor. 

The HaberFilm.com website is a helpful resource for teachers. Reading materials and lesson ideas are available. I recently used a lesson that my colleague created directly from the provided materials. You can check out that lesson here. The lesson included some background reading, viewing the video, participating in an excellent discussion and a follow up writing assignment.

Find teacher resources and reading material

Watch the trailer