• This inquiry is a collaboration with Project Nuna. They have provided us with Atmotubes and three school cell phones to download the Atmotube app. 

• Explain to your students that you will be investigating and exploring particulate matter (example: dust) in the community and the potential health risks associated with it. 

• Introduce the word "Particulate Matter" and what it means. It is is made up of tiny particles and liquid droplets that include: chemicals, metals, dust and mold spores. 

• Students will need support with understanding what is meant by Particulate Matter. Consider a display with different photos of Particulate Matter. You can also turn this into a sorting game where students sort and organize different types of pollution. 

• Show your students the above videos taken here in Tuk. They may recognize these trucks and already have an idea of what they are spraying and what they are used for. 

• The fluid is called EK35, it is "is a synthetic fluid and binder system that is applied to any heavily-trafficked surface to keep particulate matter confined to the road surface, thereby strengthening and preserving the road, runway or pad"

• You can use a thinking routine, such as "3-2-1 Ibyuk" to gather some information about what your students have noticed, what do they wonder and what questions they would like to dive deeper into. 

• If your students would like to learn more about EK35, the MidWest website has more information and videos that you can access. 

• You may also want to probe students' thoughts on research ethics, and research "on" versus research "with" Indigenous communities. 

• Why is it important to learn more about Particulate Matter?

• Why do you think dust is becoming more of a concern?

• What else could be considered as Particulate Matter?

• Who is most at risk?

• Which areas may be more at risk? 

• Have you noticed any changes in the amount of dust in the community?

• What do you know about EK35?

• Do you have any suggestions or ideas to mitigate the effects of dust in the community?

• Who in our community can help us learn more about dust and particulate matter? 

• How should we begin our research process? 

• What tools and technology can help us in our learning journey? 

• Why is it important to have community Indigenous led research? 

• Videos and photos of particulate matter

• Identify and sorting activities

• Science and Math word wall

• As you introduce the AQI chart to your students, they can make predictions about what the AQI may be here in Tuk.

• The Government of Canada resource has educational videos of "Indi the Caterpillar".

• You can prompt them to consider what the AQIs may be in other parts of the world (village vs. a city). 

• Explain to your students that there is a Purple Air Monitor near the Health Centre that shows real-time AQI for Tuk. 

• On your Smart Board, display the "Purple Air Real-Time Quality Monitoring" interactive map. 

• Students can explore the global AQI and you can support the discussion using the key questions below. 

• Students can work in partners or groups to research an area on the map. Some students may explore cities, while other may explore smaller communities. 

• Encourage students to research the surrounding area: paper mills, factories, forest fires, mines etc... bodies of water, wind directions, forests/greeneries. 

• You and your students can come up with an essential question along the lines of: How do environments and people affect the air quality index? What are the effects of the air quality index?

• Once you have determined and co-created a list of "AQI research" success criteria, you are encouraged to provide your students with a checklist and an exemplar. You can model an exemplar with your class and you can provide them with the choice of a graphic organizer, based on the success criteria you have co-created. You can also provide your students with some multi-modal presentation tools such as: Google Slides, Canva and Flipgrid. 

• This is also a great opportunity to model to to your students the research process and importance of citing sources. 

• A research report template is provided, however, co-creating the success criteria with your students and leaving the template more open-ended would be best practice. Additionally, an example citation activity and template is provided. Both resources are from TPT and cited in the references. 

• As your learning journey progresses, your students will continue to add to the learning wall.

• In the STEM challenge, students are creating their own pollution detector. This is a great visual activity to demonstrate to them how much dust, pollen and other particulate matter is present in the air around them. It is also a good introduction to using the AtmoTube.

• If your students wish to extend on this STEM challenge, they can create an illustration or demonstration of their findings. They can compare different areas of the classroom and of the school. You can also facilitate some relational learning opportunities with another class. 

• You can also connect some lessons to your Health curriculum. 

• In your own words, what is the air quality index?

• Why is the AQI an important piece of data?

• How is the AQI collected? How is it shared?

• What AQI do you think is most appropriate and safe?

• How do you think people have an impact on the AQI?

• What other factors may influence the AQI?

• Who is most at risk in high alert air quality zones?

• How do you think the AQI affects animals?

• How do you think the AQI affects nature and the land?

• What do you notice about high alert air quality zones? 

• Do you have any ideas or suggestions on how we can mitigate poor AQIs?

• What kind of infrastructures are located in high alert zones?

• How do you think wind directions and wind speeds affect AQI? Can you give an example?

• Who in our community can teach us about air quality?

• What are some natural ways to improve air quality? 

• In creating your pollution detector, what surprised you? 

• What kind of data does your pollution detector give you?

• Did you notice any similarities with your peers' pollution detectors? Any differences?

• How does learning about AQI make us more capable?

• What can students do to make a positive difference?

• Mixed ability partner groups

• Multimodality AQI presentations

• Student-centered assessment of learning 

• Provide students with a map of Tuktoyaktuk. This can be a print out, 3D model or a digital representation (Google Maps/Earth).

• Prompt students to consider which areas of Tuk may have higher traffic, and/or poorer air quality. 

• You will be guiding your students as they work together to come up with a data collection and data analysis plan.

• This data inquiry can be part of a whole school inquiry where each class participates and contributes. 

• Students will need to create a table for data collection. Although the app collects and organizes the data, you may want to create an enlarged, visual representation to include on your learning wall. 

• You can also create a class Google Sheet.

• Students can make and record their predictions before going out into the community to collect data. 

• You may use a thinking routine like "Layered Inference"

• In the instances where your students would like to collect the PM data from moving vehicles, you must ensure all safety precautions are in place: students should be wearing a mask and your students can create a stand for the Atmotube and set it up near the street. 

• You can also use the school phones to take photos for your learning wall. 

• You are encouraged to co-create a class set of research ethics or protocols. 

• As the class teacher, you will need to consider the ethics, consents and release of information if you wish to collect data from private property and/or are having students collect data from their homes. Please talk to the Admin Team if you have any questions and/or concerns. 

• As extension activities, you can create problems for the students to solve using the data collected. 

• What should we include in our class set of research ethics?

• What are our safety precautions for collecting data in our community?

• Who in our community can help guide our research? 

• How will technology support our research?

• What tools do we need to conduct our research?

• How will we organize our predictions? How will we organize our results?

• What patterns do you notice in the data?

• Are there any other factors that correlate with the PM scores?

• Which results surprised you?

• What story does our data tell?

• How do our predictions compare to our results?

• How can we share our results with our community?

• What other ways can we show our data? (line plots, bar graphs, illustrations...) 

• How did you demonstrate cooperation and teamwork? 

• How does learning about AQI make us more capable?

• How does collecting and analyzing AQI data make us more capable?

• What can students do to make a positive difference?

• Revisit, review and display the relevant mathematics vocabulary such as: bar graph, line plot, x axis, y axis, correlation, key. 

• Provide students with sentence stems for their predictions: "I predict that.... because...." 

• Explore some non-fiction texts such as news articles to learn more about the AQI, sensors and Canadian wildfires. 

• You can incorporate these into your levelled Guided Reading groups or take a shared reading approach. 

• Students can also research and learn more about Indigenous-led conservation projects and programs across Canada.

• Students can also research and read more about how kids are taking action.

• Invite in elders and/or community members to share knowledge on taking care of the land. 

• Scholastics Take Action for Reconciliation Kits: If you have this resource at your school, there are many great lesson plans ideas provided for you.

• Data stories: using the data collected, students can write a story. They can also create an illustration. 

• Biographies: Some students may want to research more into Indigenous people protecting the planet. They can then create a biography. They can also identify and interview someone from our community to create a biography.

• Infographic: How have Indigenous people always been stewards of the land? 

• Research reports: Students can research AQI, particulate matter and the potential health risks. 

• Research journals/logs/reflections: Students can keep a journal/diary of their learning journey. 

• Students are given the choice to select and creative/communication activity they like. 

• Text-Speech

• Multi- modal written expression: demonstration, play, podcast, puppet show, clay animation, stop motion, comic book, song, dance or any other ideas your students may have. 

• Students can explore a variety of art mediums, representations and materials.

• Encourage students to use recycled materials for their art.

• Students can work together to create a class 3D model of Tuktoyaktuk. 

• The above model was created by Ms.Shaw and the Grade 2s (2023). 

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Driscoll, P. (2023). Trucks spraying EK35 in Tuktoyaktuk 1 [Personal Video]. 

Driscoll, P. (2023). Trucks spraying EK35 in Tuktoyaktuk 2 [Personal Video]. 

Driscoll, P. (2023). Understanding Particulate Matter and Air Quality Index. Canva AI Magic Design Tool. https://www.canva.com/design/DAFqrx7xLe8/65spFOX9B0zngHWDVhDikA/edit

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Government of Canada. (2023). Air Quality Index for Children. https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/air-quality-health-index/videos/indi-caterpillar.html

MakeCode. (2020). Air Quality Meter. https://makecode.microbit.org/15627-50644-61827-65303

Midwest Industrial Supply. (2023). EK35. https://www.midwestind.com/product-overview/ek35/

PurpleAir. (2023). Real-time Air Quality Map. https://map.purpleair.com/?opt=1/mAQI/a10/cC0&select=132229#14.54/69.44662/-133.04016

Shaw, N. (2023). 3D Model of Tuktoyaktuk [Personal Image]. 

Shingler, B. (2023, June 7). How 'severe and unusual' smoke from Canadian wildfires is spreading and what it means for your health. CBC Explains. https://www.cbc.ca/news/climate/canada-wildfire-smoke-spreading-1.6868662

Soaring in First. (2021). Research Report Template. Teachers Pay Teachers. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Research-Report-Template-3075430?st=7a7de7d0bd64c9bd9929aead9d24587f

Teach Engineering. (2020). Pollution Detector Worksheet: I Breathe WHAT? https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_enveng_lesson07_activity1

Teen Tech University. (2020). Evaluate and Cite! Research Skills, Activities, Resources for Students. Teachers Pay Teachers. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Evaluate-and-Cite-Research-Skills-Activities-Resources-for-Students-3263201?st=cdf8da074211d1ba58e2267b29dffe42

Thinking Pathways. (n.d). Layered Inference. https://thinkingpathwayz.weebly.com/layeredinference.html

Wilson, J. (2019). Our Future: How Kids Are Taking Action. Strong Nations. https://www.strongnations.com/store/item_display.php?i=8090&f=