EXAMPLES FROM BORDER AIR QUALITY STUDENT ACTIVITIES ILLUSTRATING THE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION GUIDELINES FOR EXCELLENCE
Strand 1: Questioning, Analysis and Interpretation Skills
Grades 3 – 5
Grades 6 – 8
Students make air quality monitors and are assisted in
controlling variables as they created investigations to collect
particulate matter. They compared the results from
different locations & time spans in their community.
Students experience restricted breathing by breathing
through a straw during physical activities. They relate this to
respiratory diseases and survey their friends to determine
incidences of asthma.
Students learn what fossil fuels are by doing an experiment
with fossil fuels and relate the hands-on experience to the
pollution pictures and the burning of fossil fuels
Students create their own windmills and control variables to
analyze wind as alternate energy power.
Students explore solar powered cars to design best
placement of solar cells for maximum energy.
Students create their own lab to determine temperature
differences of COs gas and air when exposed to heat and light.
Students select 5 cities to research the asthma rates,
economic backgrounds, education levels, & locations and
then create a proposal for why environmental conditions and
poverty affect health.
Students investigate differing levels of particulate matter in
the area by placing Air Quality monitors in various locations in
a controlled experiment and comparing the results.
Students investigate the community’s major sources of air
pollution and locate these on a map.
Students calculate gallons of gasoline used in the teacher’s
car per year and multiply by 22 pounds to determine total
amount of COs created.
Students observe or create a model of a thermal inversion
and relate that to the creation of thermal inversions in their
community.
High School
Chemistry – Students conduct produce a model of copper
smelting and examine the waste compounds that are
produced. They identify the impact of these chemical
pollutants.
Environmental Science – Students determine the effects of
prevailing/seasonal winds on air quality by investigating the
wind rose and pollution data.
Physics – Students investigate the effects of nuclear power
plants in their neighborhood and use physics to determine
the best placement for these plants.
Strand 2: Knowledge of Environmental Processes and Systems
Grades 3 – 5
Grades 5 – 8
Students gain knowledge of the daily ozone level by visiting
AIRnow.gov along with using AQ monitors to mark the level
of the air quality each day.
Students learn what the greenhouse effect is and what causes
it.
High School
Physics – Students gain knowledge of what a nuclear power
plant is, where, and if they are in their community, & the
dangers they bring with them.
Students calculate the amount of COs each family uses.
Students examine many factors, including the burning of
fossil fuels which contribute to air pollution and the ways
that they can reduce air pollution in their own school and
community.
Students explore the concept of electrical energy
production using fossil fuels.
Students explore alternative ways of producing electrical
energy.
Students learn how to reduce greenhouse emission.
Students understanding that communities with higher levels
of particulate pollution have higher rates of respiratory and
health problems.
Students discover what thermal inversion is and how it
affects their air quality.
Chemistry –Students identify major air polluting chemical
compounds and their characteristics.
Environmental Science – Students learn how to look at the
wind rose data & air pollution summary of El Paso & the
border cities to determine if there is a trend followed by
the direction of the wind and the pollution levels in the air.
Students learn how to identify the major pollution sources in
their community.
Strand 4: Personal and Civic Responsibility
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Elementary children taught younger children about the Air Quality Index (AQI) and daily ozone monitoring. The Physical Education teachers are involved so they can avoid outdoor
activities on ozone alert days.
Through the curriculum partnership, attractive AQI charts have been designed, published, and placed in every school in the district. The science contact at each building will see that the
charts are placed in a public location and the AQ levels will be announced on days with poor air quality.
Tank maneuvers on the military base left visible black particulate matter on the surfaces of the local school’s playground. When the teachers understood the health significance of this, a
discussion with the military liaison resulted in changing the maneuvers to a time and location removed from the school and the construction of a barrier between the school and the route
of the maneuvers.
High school students studied the case of a large copper smelter located in the heart of the city where it spewed poisons for more than 100 years. Citizen action and the low price of copper
finally ended the smelter, and the high school curriculum has embedded this history as part of the community’s cultural and environmental conscience.
Middle school students are creating public service announcements using video tools such as Animodo and YouTube. These clips may be persuasive or informative often illustrating citizen
tips for the home and auto on how to reduce energy consumption to reduce CO 2 levels. These have been posted to the district’s YouTube channel and have been shown on the school’s TV
news channel.
Asthma and other respiratory problems are exacerbated in the dry environment with its many sources of pollution. Children in several grade levels are studying asthma rates in their
communities through surveys and interviews.
Students are identifying the major polluters in the community and are exploring the government and civic entities involved in regulating and controlling these polluters.
Students are measuring and understanding their carbon footprint and are creating action plans to reduce that print.
Middle school students learned how to create an avatar based on activities that create air pollution. They learned their carbon footprint level. Then they taught their friends how to do
the activity and create their own avatar.
Students examined walking school buses, and, although they could not be institutionalized, they promoted walking and bike riding and encouraged no idle zones around their schools.
Based on their skills and understanding of air pollution sources and wind directions, students interpret safe zones for urban planning.