Air Pollution Project

Mt. Pleasant, Washington DC

 

Lesson Plan for DC Metro Science for the People (https://www.dcmetrosftp.org) project with Bancroft Elementary School :

Is Your Neighborhood Hazardous to Your Health? (June 25, 2009)

 

Contact People: Peter Caplan ([email protected])

David Schwartzman ([email protected])

 

 

Week 1:

 

Introduction to Air Pollution: effects on health; particles vs gases

How do you get rid of a bad smell in a room?

How does the air in the room try to clean itself? Turbulence demo.

Outside air: Air quality codes

Activity: Collect related local newspaper, TV - plus Google.

 

Week 2:

 

Discussion of news items collected; intro to particles and ozone

Pollution and the atmosphere: AQI - what it is, what pollutants it applies to,

Dispersion demos: ink in water; onion in air, soap bubbles in air.

How does outside air clean itself When is pollution worst - season, time of day.

Week 3:

 

Measuring air pollution: Where in your neighborhood is the dirtiest air?

Group activity: Estimate particle concentration using sticky tape collector

Organizing observations: Keeping log of times, places, weather and AQI

Code red days: Is Mt. Pleasant complying?

Pollution’s effect on nature: Observing lichens in Mt. P – where are they healthiest?

 

Week 4:

 

Measuring particle concentration with a portable electronic sampler

Continue sticky tape measurements

Continue monitoring code red days in media, and note concurrent weather


Week 5:

 

Bring in all measurements and analyze any patterns found

What can we do about air pollution?

Questions for future studies to resolve


 

 

 

RESOURCES

 

- > Teacher AQI kit:

https://www.epa.gov/airnow/teachers/toolkit/teachers_full_toolkit.pdf

 

- > Large scale maps and hourly loop: (for loop, click on "ozone now" or "particles now")

https://airnow.gov/

 

- > Clean Air Partners action programs

https://www.cleanairpartners.net

 

-> other state and municipal ozone action days programs:

https://www.epa.gov/airnow/action.html

 

- > Ozone Action Days - daily map of which cities have AQI in unhealthy range

https://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.actiondays

 

-> MWCOG air quality forecasts & obs, past & present; maps

https://www.mwcog.org/environment/air/forecast/

 

-> AQI forecasts for Balt and DC: (with link to Balto haze camera)

https://www.mde.state.md.us/Air/index.asp

 

-> Monthly day-by-day air quality summaries:

https://www.mde.state.md.us/Programs/AirPrograms/Monitoring/aqsummaries/index.asp

 

-> Webcams can be looked at for visibility (smog) as well as traffic density:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/metro/traffic?nextstep=zoneDetail&zone=41

 

- > And, keep in mind: traffic counts (trucks, motos, buses, cars), gas station activity on code red days (compliance), public transit use, hospital admissions