Lesson 3: Air Pollution Effects and Measuring Air Quality
Figure F.10 - Clean air buttons
- Hook: Using plants to reduce indoor air pollution. Show the students a TED talk video on how to grow your own fresh air. This lesson features self-assessment and teaches students how they can contribute to reducing air pollution in the world
- by simply changing some of their lifestyle choices. This video should be able to demonstrate to students the scope of what this lesson hopes to achieve.
- Action: Students will be asked to assess their home’s air quality with food colouring activity. This activity gives the students a chance to assess their contributions to air pollution by adding different coloured food colouring to their individual glasses of water for each of the activities called. The coloured drops are classified in terms of their source. The purpose of this activity is to not bring shame to students for their contributions but for them to re-think some of the lifestyle choices that they have that might not necessarily be healthy for themselves. This activity gives them a visual of their contributions and in ways quantifies them.
- Figure F.12 - Food colouring in water
- Debrief: Exit slip – Personal To-Do List on reducing air pollution. Now that the students have had a chance to assess themselves, they can make a plan as to how they can contribute to keeping the air clean. They can go outside of the activities that were mentioned during the activity now that they know the sources of these air pollutant components.
- Other Teaching Ideas:
- Build an indoor air filter activity 1
- Build an indoor air filter activity 2
- Fight for Clean Air Video
Figure F.11 - Plants that reduce indoor air pollution