Students embark on a scavenger hunt around the school looking for indoor air pollution and mapping source locations.
Students learn about electricity and air pollution while building devices to measure volatile organic compounds (VOC) by attaching VOC sensors to prototyping boards. In the second part of the activity, students evaluate the impact of various indoor air pollutants using the devices they made.
This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:
"New research finds that female mice are most vulnerable to air pollution early in their reproductive cycle That finding calls for a closer look at menstrual cycle phase when studying air pollution effects in women Researchers gathered mice at two different stages of their reproductive cycle marked by clear differences in circulating sex hormones They then exposed each group to ozone, a reactive air pollutant known to worsen symptoms of lung disease Those in the earlier phase showed higher activation of the immune system, suggesting higher sensitivity to air pollution at that time The carryover to women hasn’t yet been explored But the overall message is clear Women’s hormonal status should always be recorded in studies on air pollution and lung inflammation Fuentes et al. "Modulation of the lung inflammatory response to ozone by the estrous cycle..."
The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.
Students take virtual field trips to explore air quality research sites and investigate the causes, effects, and solutions to nitrogen deposition in Rocky Mountain National Park during this module.
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 take an in-depth look at what goes into planning a research project, which prepares them to take the lead on their own projects. Examining a case study, students first practice planning a research project that compares traditional cook stoves to improved cook stoves for use in the developing world. Then they compare their plans to one used in the real-world by professional researchers, gaining perspective and details on the thought and planning that goes into good research work. Then students are provided with example materials, a blank template and support to take them from brainstorming to completing a detailed research plan for their own air quality research projects. Conducting students’ AQ-IQ research studies requires additional time and equipment beyond this planning activity. Then after the data is collected and analyzed, teams interpret the data and present summary research posters by conducting the next associated activity Numerous student handouts and a PowerPoint® presentation are provided.
Students learn how scientific terms are formed using Latin and Greek roots, prefixes and suffixes, and on that basis, learn to make an educated guess about the meaning of a word. Students are introduced to the role played by metaphor in language development.
The goal of this activity is for students to develop visual literacy. They learn how images are manipulated for a powerful effect and how a photograph can make the invisible (pollutants that form acid rain) visible (through the damage they cause). The specific objective is to write captions for photographs.
Students are introduced to the health risks caused by cooking and heating with inefficient cook stoves inside homes, a common practice in rural developing communities. Students simulate the cook stove scenario and use the engineering design process, including iterative trials, to increase warmth inside a building while reducing air quality problems. Students then collect and graph data, and analyze their findings.
Students develop their understanding of air convection currents and temperature inversions by constructing and observing simple models.
EPA has many data sources available, these cover topics including but not limited to air, climate change, health risks, pollutants and contaminants, waste, and water. The data are downloadable and available through the Environmental Dataset Gateway (EDG). The EDG is a source of Web-based geospatial information and information services. It enables data consumers to discover, view, and access geospatial resources made available by EPA's program offices, regions, and labs.
Stanford University’s Understand Energy Learning Hub provides free access to Stanford course content on energy resources from fossil fuels like oil and coal to renewable resources like the wind, the sun, and efficiency; energy currencies like electricity and hydrogen; and energy services such as transportation and buildings. Explore the Hub and build your energy literacy to address climate change and sustainability issues, engage on equity and human development challenges, participate in energy industry markets and technology innovations, and make informed energy decisions.
This course is aimed at the aspiring planning practitioner, policy-maker, or industry decision-maker with an interest in urban transportation and environmental issues in Latin America. The course will focus on current transport-related themes confronting many cities in the region, including: rapid motorization and suburbanization and subsequent impacts on transportation infrastructure and quality of life; public sector management and improvement of privately-owned and operated transit systems; and, transportation air pollution problems and potential solutions.
The course will be geared towards interactive problem-solving, taking advantage of students’ skills and experiences in: institutional analysis, policy analysis, and project and program evaluation and implementation. Detailed knowledge of transportation planning is not required; instead, the course will attempt to place the general practitioner into a specific transportation public policy situation and draw from her skills to devise real solutions. To fulfill this problem-solving orientation, the course will be divided into two parts. Part I of the course will consist of a series of lectures on the principal issues surrounding transportation in the developing world (including motorization, fiscal pressures, urban sprawl), concepts of sustainability as they relate to urban transportation, regional strategic planning approaches, and transportation policy and technology options and examples of successful implementation.
After these lectures, Part II of the course will be dedicated to the two case studies, where students will apply the knowledge gained in Part I to develop strategic solutions to the transport-land use-environment challenges in two different cities.
This course examines the policy, politics, planning, and engineering of transportation systems in urban areas, with a special focus on the Boston area. It covers the role of the federal, state, and local government and the MPO, public transit in the era of the automobile, analysis of current trends and pattern breaks; analytical tools for transportation planning, traffic engineering, and policy analysis; the contribution of transportation to air pollution, social costs, and climate change; land use and transportation interactions, and more. Transportation sustainability is a central theme throughout the course, as well as consideration of if and how it is possible to resolve the tension between the three E’s (environment, economy, and equity). The goal of this course is to elicit discussion, stimulate independent thinking, and encourage students to understand and challenge the “conventional wisdom” of transportation planning.
This course examines the policy, politics, planning, and engineering of transportation systems in urban areas, with a special focus on the Boston area. It covers the role of the federal, state, and local government and the MPO, public transit in the era of the automobile, analysis of current trends and pattern breaks; analytical tools for transportation planning, traffic engineering, and policy analysis; the contribution of transportation to air pollution, social costs, and climate change; land use and transportation interactions, and more. Transportation sustainability is a central theme throughout the course, as well as consideration of if and how it is possible to resolve the tension between the three E’s (environment, economy, and equity). The goal of this course is to elicit discussion, stimulate independent thinking, and encourage students to understand and challenge the “conventional wisdom” of transportation planning.
The course explores the interactions between state and market as instigators of China’s urbanization, and its consequences of land, housing, transportation, energy, environment, migration, finance, urban inequality. Themes include the de-synchronization of China’s urbanization, potential differences between China’s past and future development, and differentiators between China’s urbanization and those of other countries. This discussion-based course asks students to participate in the conversation with the course instructor and guest lecturers by drawing upon their experiences and academic or professional backgrounds.
Poster announcing a citywide public forum with the St. Louis Smoke Commissioner to be held at Roosevelt High School, Des Moines, Iowa, and neighborhood forums with Royal H. Holbrook. Illustration shows smoke pouring out of a smokestack. Date stamped on verso: Jan 29 1941.
Students observe and discuss a simple model of a wet scrubber to understand how this pollutant recovery method functions in cleaning industrial air pollution.
Students are introduced to some essential meteorology concepts so they more fully understand the impact of meteorological activity on air pollution control and prevention. First, they develop an understanding of the magnitude and importance of air pressure. Next, they build a simple aneroid barometer to understand how air pressure information is related to weather prediction. Then, students explore the concept of relative humidity and its connection to weather prediction. Finally, students learn about air convection currents and temperature inversions. In an associated literacy activity, students learn how scientific terms are formed using Latin and Greek roots, prefixes and suffixes, and are introduced to the role played by metaphor in language development. Note: Some of these activities can be conducted simultaneously with the air quality activity (What Color Is Your Air Today?) of Air Pollution unit, Lesson 1.
Students develop awareness and understanding of the daily air quality using the Air Quality Index (AQI) listed in the newspaper. They explore what engineers can do to help reduce poor air quality.