Activity # 1
Students will take a personal inventory of every day products they use to see how much indoor air pollution they are adding to their environment.
Personal Inventory of Potential Indoor Pollutants
1. Write a list of the personal care products you used today for work or school.
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2. Were any of these products an aerosol spray? Yes___________No__________
3. What type of fuel heats and/or cools your home? _________________________________
4. Did you cook this morning and if so, what kind of fuel does your stove use?______________________________________
5. Do you sleep with a window cracked, even in the winter?Yes_________ No________
6. Does anyone in your home smokes inside? Yes_______No________
7. Do you use a humidifier in your home?Yes________No________
8. Do you use a dehumidifier in your home?Yes________No________
9. Would you say your home is energy efficient (insulated windows and doors keeping outside air out)?Yes________No________
10. Does your family burn candles and/or incense, wood-burning stove, kerosene stove, and/or fireplace? If so, please list.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11. Do you know what kind of paint was used inside your home? If so, please list?
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12. How often does your family paint the interior of your home?
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13. Do you have potted plants in your home?Yes_________No________
14. Do you have wall-to-wall carpeting?Yes__________No___________
15. Do you have pets and what kind do you have? _____________________________________
16. Do any of your family members suffer from asthma and/or allergies? If yes, how many people? ________
17. Choose the area you live near:
__________ Wooded area
__________ City Street
__________ Suburban Street
__________ Major Intersection
__________ Highway
__________ Cul-de-sac
18. Do you have a garage? If so, is it attached to your home, near your home, or underneath you home?________________________________________________________________________
Rating scale:
Item #2: For every aerosol spray listed, deduct 1 point.
Item # 4: Deduct 1 point if your answer was yes.
Item # 5: Add 1 point if your answer was yes.
Item # 6: Add a point of your answer was no.
Item # 7: Deduct 1 point if your answer was yes.
Item # 8: Add 1 point if your answer was yes.
Item 9: Add 1 point if your answer was yes.
Item # 10: Deduct 1 point for every item listed.
Item #11: If paint contained lead, deduct 1 point (usually in an older house).
Item # 12: Deduct 1 point for how often you paint.
Item # 13: Add a point for each potted plant.
Item # 14: Deduct 1 point if your answer was yes.
Item # 15: Deduct a point for every furry animal.
Item # 16: Deduct 1 point for each person.
After taking the personal inventory and rating their answers, students will compare results and see what ways they can change some of their habits in order to improve the air inside their homes.
Activity # 2
Students will research facts about indoor air pollution and outdoor air pollution in order to compare and contrast using a two-circle Venn diagram.
Indoor Air
· We spend 90% of our time indoors
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There is very little air exchange between indoor and outdoor air
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Children don't spend a lot of time playing outdoors
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Cleaning products, paint, carpeting, dust mites, fungi, and bacteria contribute to poor indoor air quality
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Carbon monoxide and radon seep in households from the Earth
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Asbestos
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Lead
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Respirable particles which are microscopic solid or liquid matter due to burning of fireplaces, stoves, etc.
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Outdoor Air
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Fumes from car exhaust and industry increases our exposure to pollutants
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Pollen and other allergens add to our pollution problems
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Acid rain due high levels of smog stacks which will cause an increase of sulfuric acid and nitrogen oxide
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We are adding more carbon dioxide to the air than the plants can convert to oxygen resulting to global warming
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Ozone depletion due to increase use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's)
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Activity # 3
Students will prepare monitoring strips that will be placed in various locations within their homes, as well as in the school building.
Materials:
· 3x5 index cards
· Scissors
· Adhesive tape
· Hand lens
Procedure:
1. Fold cards in half.
2. Cut a hole one inch by three inches
3. Apply adhesive tape to the hole with the sticky side facing up to catch particulates
4. Set up cards at various locations where the cards will not be disturbed. After a few days, collect the cards and examine with hand lens.
5. Count the amount of particulates on each of the cards.
6. Create a bar graph from the data collected.
7. Students will write an explanation as to why certain areas had more particulates than others.
Activity # 4
Students will monitor air quality of the same various locations as outlined in Activity # 3 using an air quality monitoring system. Students will create a data table and compare the results from Activity # 3. Students will write an analytical essay with the comparison and its implications.
Activity # 5
Students will work in groups in order to complete a culminating argument of indoor air quality of their school building by creating a poster, brochures, commercial, newspaper article, or power point presentation.