Air Quality Curriculum for Teachers

Step-by-Step Curriculum Builder

Our 6-step curriculum is an active and tech-forward way for students to explore and understand their community, learn more about air pollution and its impact on human health, and what can be done to reduce or avoid it. The curriculum builder is an online resource designed to make teaching about air quality easy and impactful. Each of the six steps includes a mix of teacher’s guides, videos, and supplemental student worksheets.

1

step one

Air Quality 101 Lesson

Learning the basics about air pollution and why you should be measuring it is the first step to change-making that can help reduce it. Print out the Air Quality 101 Fact Sheet for your students to keep as a reference. Read through the material together in an effort to spark student interest and facilitate discussions about what pollution is, where it comes from, and why it is important to measure it. This step unlike most of the others, does not have a teacher’s guide.

Download the Air Quality 101 Factsheet

2

step two

Build a Plan

If you went through the pre-planning page of this site, then you already understand this step. The plan-building step is meant to familiarize students with what to expect over the next few days. Discussing the plans aloud and working together to define goals, roles, and outcomes will help organize your field sampling efforts. Use the planning guide as a group to set your week in motion. This step unlike most of the others does not have a teacher’s guide, for more details about planning reference the pre-planning page.

Download the Student Worksheet

3

step three

Into Action: Gathering
Materials and Mastering Technology

During this step, you will introduce your students to the AirCasting platform. The goal is to understand and explore how the AirBeam, AirCasting app, and AirCasting website work together to enable the recording, mapping, and sharing of air quality data. Experiential learning stations set up inside the classroom enable students to use their powers of observation to understand how the AirBeam measures air quality, build confidence in using the technology, and ensure an organized and seamless experience for everyone during field sampling.

Download the Teacher Guide

Watch “Getting Started With AirBeam3″ (Video)

Watch “Mobile Monitoring With AirBeam3” (Video)

Download Data Collection Analysis Worksheet

4

step four

Developing Your
AirCasting Field Plan

This is where the planning you did in Step Two meets the real world. You need to connect the dots between your air quality concerns and the operationalization of your air quality monitoring plan in the field. If you’re recording mobile AirBeam sessions, you’ll map out your routes and decide what times of day and days of the week you’ll be sampling. If you’ll be recording fixed AirBeam sessions, you’ll decide where to site the AirBeams. In addition, if you plan to conduct your air quality monitoring in collaboration with a community-based organization, now is the time to engage them and get their input.

Download the Teacher Guide

Download AirCasting Roles & Responsibilities

Watch “Mobile Monitoring With AirBeam3” (Video)

Watch “Fixed Monitoring With AirBeam3” (Video)

Equipment Tracker Template

Fixed Site Tracker Template

Download the Traffic Tracking Guide

5

step five

In the Field

All the students’ hard work and preparation was leading up to this. This day is all about cooperative data collection and having fun!

Download the Teacher Guide

6

step six

Reporting Observations
+ Drawing Conclusions

Step Six is an opportunity for students to make sense of their air quality data, crowdsource it, and present their findings to their peers. Students will be using the AirCasting website to map and graph the air quality data collected in Step Five to identify patterns and compare and contrast findings between teams. Today is an opportunity to lead meaningful discussions that could impact whether or not as a class, or even individually, students will take action toward change-making and consider what form that might take.

Download Teacher Guide

Download AirCasting Data Interpretation Worksheet

Download Claim-Evidence-Reasoning Worksheet

7

optional

Take Action: Want More?

Learn how to build a campaign to affect change or for a bit of inspiration first, check out AirCasting campaign success stories.

Print These
Steps

Get AirBeam

User
Stories

“Know what you are exposed to, it will literally save your life!”

– Ruzmyn Vilcassim

UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM
“The AirBeam increases visibility of what’s invisible.”

– Dawn Roberts-Semple

YORK COLLEGE, CUNY
“AirCasting puts air quality data collection in the hands of ordinary people and under-resourced organizations. Also, it has been a powerful experience for people impacted by poor air quality to measure air quality first hand.”

-Jen Chantrtanapichate

CLEANUP NORTH BROOKLYN
“The AirBeam is a critical tool for enabling communities to understand and advocate for change in their local environments.”

– Andrew Mondschein

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
“The AirBeam is a low-cost and very accessible way to put hyperlocal air quality data in the hands of community members who need it the most, who are most affected by poor air quality, and who can use it as a starting point to understand personal exposures to air pollution.”

-Wendy Gutschow

USC ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH CENTERS
“The AirBeam is an essential tool for citizen science and learning about air quality in our classroom.”

-Anna Mello

THE CHAPLIN SCHOOL
“AirBeam + AirCasting generates a lot of classroom excitement and good discussion when teaching 8th graders about air pollution.”

– Charles Stanier

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
“AirCasting is an easy and interesting way to find out how the air quality around you is and use this data to discuss ways of improving your community.”

– Henrique S. Benites

UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WHALES
“AirBeams are a great way to show students of all ages what is in the air they are breathing in real time. It is an invaluable tool to provide education and outreach about air pollution sources and how small changes can make a big difference.”

– Anna Leonard

PIEDMONT TRIAD REGIONAL COUNCIL
“Being able to see how a truck passing by impacts our air inspires folks to advocate for themselves and their community – as well as sparking interest and curiosity into how these technologies work from a back-end perspective.”

– Sadie Coughlin-Prego

QUEENSBRIDGE TECH LAB

Get Inspired! See How Orgs Use AirCasting Data to Make Change.

Knowledge is power when it comes to air quality. But now that you are empowered with hyperlocal air quality data measurements, what exactly will you do with them? Check out what these six change-making organizations did.

Learn More