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What to expect
Did you know that the air quality in homes and schools is usually worse than the air quality outside? Most of the time in Chicago, the outdoor air quality is moderate to good, although traffic congestion and industrial activities can negatively impact it. In today’s activity, we will take a look at the air quality in your classroom! We will program the micro:bit and use the Kitronik Air Quality Board to collect measurements of temperature, pressure, humidity, air quality index, and CO2-equivalent (CO2e).
Connections
How do temperature, pressure, humidity, air quality index, and CO2e affect the air quality?
Indoor air quality (IAQ) is an essential aspect of environmental health because people spend a significant amount of time indoors, particularly in buildings with air conditioning and heating systems that recirculate air. Poor IAQ can cause various health problems, such as respiratory issues, allergies, headaches, and fatigue. High temperatures can increase the formation of ground-level ozone, a harmful air pollutant that can cause respiratory problems. Temperature can also affect the rate of chemical reactions that produce pollutants and the rate of evaporation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from sources such as paint, solvents, and gasoline. Changes in air pressure can affect the movement and dispersion of pollutants. Low-pressure systems can lead to stagnant air and trap pollutants near the ground, while high-pressure systems can disperse pollutants more widely. Humidity can affect the formation and behavior of pollutants. High humidity can increase the formation of particulate matter (PM), while low humidity can increase the formation of ozone. Humidity can also affect the rate of chemical reactions that produce pollutants. The air quality index (AQI) measures air pollution in a given area. It considers a range of pollutants, including particulate matter, ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. These are air pollutants that can have negative impacts on our daily lives.
High levels of these pollutants can cause respiratory problems, worsen existing heart and lung conditions, and lead to other health issues like headaches, fatigue, and nausea. Reducing exposure to these pollutants is essential to protect our health and well-being. Higher AQI values indicate poorer air quality and increased health risks. CO2e measures the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent in the air. High levels of CO2e can indicate poor ventilation and the presence of indoor air pollutants such as VOCs, which can be emitted by building materials, furnishings, and cleaning products. Figure 1 shows the impact of pollutants in the air in downtown Chicago. Figure 2 shows the impact of air quality on human health in Chicago.
Figure 1. Chicago downtown loop showing pollution in the air
Figure 2. Chicago's air quality and health index in 2020
Materials
Kitronik Air Quality (AQ) Board
Micro:bit
Instructions
Coding the Kitronik Air Quality Board
Now we're going to program the Kitronik Air Quality Board. This is in preparation for the next few activities, where you will put the Kitronik AQ board in different locations and collect data. The Kitronik AQ board can measure pressure, temperature, humidity, air quality index, and CO2e.
Open MakeCode and start a new project. A suggested name would be “3.1 Kitronik AQ_Part1a.”
2. First, click on the extensions tab. This is the tab that has the plus sign. The extensions tab is located at the bottom of the list, beneath the math tab.
3. After you enter the tab, type in “kitronik air quality.” Then, you should choose the one that says “kitronik-air-quality-v2-only.” Please note that the micro:bit's LED screen should be facing in when plugged into the AQ board.
4. First, start with an “on start” block and add an “establish gas baseline” block and “setup gas sensor” block.
5. Then add “on button A pressed”; inside, add “measure all data reading.” This will be under the sensors tab under the air quality tab. Then under that, add ”show__ on line __.” This will be under the display tab. Add “read temperature in oF” and add this to line one of the display.
6. Repeat step 5, but change the button to B and measure pressure in Pascals (Pa); add this to line 2 of the display.
7. Repeat step 5, but change the button to A + B and measure the humidity; add this to line 3 of the display.
8. This is how our code should look so far. Download the code and test it to make sure that it measures temperature, pressure, and humidity by pressing down the “A,” “B,” and “A+B” buttons.
9. Next we want to measure three new items. Delete the portion of the “show...” block that reads “read temperature,” “read pressure,” and “read humidity.”
In “on A button pressed,” we will place the IAQ score. Add “get IAQ score”; we want that to be on line 1.
10. In the “on B button pressed,” we want to show the CO2e. Add “read eCO2”; we want that to be on line 2.
11. In “on A + B button pressed,” we want to get the IAQ score percentage. Add “IAQ %”; we want that on line 3.
12. This is how your code should look now. We will explore more coding options in the next few weeks! Download the code and test it to see if it measures the data. Ensure that this code is saved for you to use next week! Save the code as “3.1 Kitronik AQ_Part 1b.”
Think about it
In this activity, we prepared the Kitronik board to collect various data and made the display screen show the measurements.
Why is it important to reduce our exposure to air pollutants?
What is the air quality index, and what pollutants does it consider?
What was the IAQ score you measured today, and is it a good rating? [hint: 0 = Excellent, 500 = Extremely Polluted] The BME688 sensor on the Kitronic AQ board can measure the sum of VOCs/contaminants in the surrounding air. This enables it to detect gas from paint, garbage, or exhaled breath [1].
What would make the IAQ score better or worse?
Can you guess how the IAQ % is calculated?
How would you improve the existing code?
Feedback Link
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Next Activity
Next time, we will use the Kitronik air quality board to collect the air quality data at different locations.
References:
[1]https://www.bosch-sensortec.com/media/boschsensortec/downloads/datasheets/bst-bme688-ds000.pdf
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