Access to sustainable modern energy services is fundamental for economic growth and human development. It is one of the Sustainable Development Goals laid out in 2015 by the United Nations (SDG 7). Access considers two dimensions:

Electricity: Access advances education, health, productivity, security, comfort, and entertainment. It also facilitates higher-value economic opportunities.
Clean cooking fuels: Access improves the lives of women and children by dramatically reducing health impacts related to indoor air pollution, decreasing the exposure to risks associated with collecting traditional biomass, and increasing available time that can be devoted to other economic activities.
Energy access and consumption are highly related to the Human Development Index (HDI) that takes into account life expectancy, education, and health to measure a country’s well-being. A country’s fuel mix is also related to its level of development: less developed countries use a higher share of traditional biomass, while more developed countries use more electricity.

Nevertheless, a significant portion of the world population still does not have access to reliable electricity or clean cooking fuels, creating a challenge for equity in development opportunities.

Students build and observe a simple aneroid barometer to learn about changes in barometric pressure and weather forecasting.

This lesson introduces students to the concepts of air pollution and technologies that have been developed by engineers to reduce air pollution. Students develop an understanding of visible air pollutants with an incomplete combustion demonstration, a "smog in a jar" demonstration, construction of simple particulate matter collectors and by exploring engineering roles related to air pollution. Next, students develop awareness and understanding of the daily air quality and trends in air quality using the Air Quality Index (AQI) listed in the newspaper. Finally, students build and observe a variety of simple models in order to develop an understanding of how engineers use these technologies to clean up and prevent air pollution.

Students learn basic marketing concepts and use professional marketing techniques to compose an advertisement for a hybrid vehicle. In the process, they learn the principles of comparative analysis.

Oil and gas activities contribute to significant air pollution, resulting in adverse health effects and economic costs. Emissions from drilling, production, and transportation release pollutants that are linked to asthma, heart attacks, and premature deaths, especially impacting vulnerable populations. Addressing these emissions is crucial for protecting public health, mitigating economic burdens, and implementing comprehensive policies to reduce air pollution from the oil and gas industry.

Students observe demonstrations, and build and evaluate simple models to understand the greenhouse effect and the role of increased greenhouse gas concentration in global warming.

Students follow weather forecasts to gauge their accuracy and produce a weather report for the class. They develop skills of observation, recording and reporting.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students discuss what they know about air quality, play a game to facilitate understanding of air quality, and create an action plan to inspire solutions in their community.

SCIENTIST NOTES: In this lesson, students will learn about air quality and air pollution and its impacts on the human body. They will also discuss some of the causes of air pollution and think about ways they can make changes in their life to reduce the air pollution footprint. The resources on air quality all cite where they are getting their data from. Videos and links have been reviewed for accuracy. This resource is recommended for teaching.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson utilizes student choice, active listening, and active participation.
-The How’s Your Atmosphere game is engaging, and the Game Cards give specific examples of everyday actions that can have a positive or negative impact on air quality.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-Teachers should know how to use the resources Padlet or Jamboard.
-Teachers should know how to facilitate a Socratic seminar style discussion.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Movement is encouraged but not required for this game.
-Students in class who need support can be paired or grouped with others who can assist and give guidance.

There is no denying the effect that our environment has on us. Things like water and air pollution are detrimental to our health. In this episode of Crash Course Public Health, we’ll take a look at some of the ways our environment impacts us, why marginalized and low-income populations are disproportionately exposed to environmental pollution, and what we can do about it.

Chapters:
Introduction: The Environment and Your Health
Defining our Environment
Air Pollution
Water Pollution
The Neighborhood Factor
Environmental Justice
Climate Change
Review & Credits
Credits

Students capture and examine air particles to gain an appreciation of how much dust, pollen and other particulate matter is present in the air around them. Students place "pollution detectors" at various locations to determine which places have a lot of particles in the air and which places do not have as many. Quantifying and describing these particles is a first step towards engineering methods of removing contaminants from the air.

Students develop an understanding of air pressure by using candy or cookie wafers to model how it changes with altitude, by comparing its magnitude to gravitational force per unit area, and by observing its magnitude with an aluminum can crushing experiment.

Students develop their understanding of the effects of invisible air pollutants with a rubber band air test, a bean plant experiment and by exploring engineering roles related to air pollution. In an associated literacy activity, students develop visual literacy and write photograph captions. They learn how images are manipulated for a powerful effect and how a photograph can make the invisible (such as pollutants) visible. Note: You may want to set up the activities for Air Pollution unit, Lessons 2 and 3, simultaneously as they require extended data collection time and can share collection sites.

This ChemMatters article provides a brief background on smog, then examines the causes of it, efforts to reduce it, and methods used to measure it. ChemMatters is an educational magazine for high school students.

Through an overview of some of the environmental challenges facing the growing and evolving country of China today, students learn about the effects of indoor and outdoor air pollution that China is struggling to curb with the help of engineers and scientists. This includes the sources of particulate matter 2.5 and carbon dioxide, and air pollution impacts on the health of people and the environment.

The goal of this activity is to understand how techniques of persuasion (including background, supporting evidence, storytelling and the call to action) are used to develop an argument for or against a topic. Students develop an environmental case study for presentation and understand how a case study is used as an analysis tool.

Student teams model the Earth's greenhouse effect using modeling clay, ice chunks, water, aluminum pie tins and plastic wrap. They observe and record what happens in this closed environment and discuss the implications of global warming theory for engineers, themselves and the Earth.

Students identify types and sources of indoor air pollutants in their school and home environments. They evaluate actions that can be taken to reduce and prevent poor indoor air quality. In an associated literacy activity, students develop a persuasive peer-to-peer case against smoking with the goal to understand how language usage can influence perception, attitudes and behavior.

Students observe and discuss a vacuum cleaner model of a baghouse to better understand how this pollutant recovery method functions in cleaning industrial air pollution.

Students observe demonstrations, and build and evaluate simple models to understand the greenhouse effect, the role of increased greenhouse gas concentration in global warming, and the implications of global warming theory for engineers, themselves and the Earth. In an associated literacy activity, students learn how a bill becomes law and research global warming legislation.

Students use next-generation air quality monitors to measure gas-phase pollutants in the classroom. They apply the knowledge they gained during the associated lesson—an understanding of the connection between air pollutants and their possible sources. Student teams choose three potential pollutant sources and predict how the monitor’s sensors will respond. Then they evaluate whether or not their predictions were correct, and provide possible explanations for any inaccuracies. This activity serves as a simple introduction to the low-cost air quality monitoring technology that students use throughout the associated activities that follow. Three student handouts are provided.