Catch the Pollutants
Overview
Campers will test different areas around camp to assess levels of air pollution. They will
‘catch’ the particles polluting our air using petroleum jelly and determine whether they’re
breathing in more pollutants inside or outside.
Topic (s)
Grade Level
Cost (per camper)
Time (preparation and activity)
Complexity
Biology
4-6
$0.11
15 min
Easy
Ontario Curriculum Links
Understanding Earth and Space Systems: Grade 2—Air and Water in the
Environment
Big Ideas:
 air and water are a major part of the environment
 living things need air and water to survive
 changes to air and water affect living things and the environment
 our actions affect the quality of air and water, and its ability to sustain life
Specific expectations:
 assess the impact of human activities on air and water in the environment, taking
different points of view into consideration
Understanding Earth and Space Systems: Grade 4—Understanding Life SystemsHabitats and Communities
Big Ideas:

Changes to habitats (whether caused by natural or human means) can affect
plants and animals and the relationships between
Specific expectations:
 analyse the positive and negative impacts of human interactions with natural
habitats and communities, taking different perspectives into account and
evaluate ways of minimizing the negative impacts
Understanding Life Systems: Grade 7 – Interactions in the Environment
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Catch the Pollutants


Big Ideas:
 Ecosystems are in a constant state of change. The changes may
be caused by nature or by human intervention.
Human activities have the potential to alter the environment.
Humans must be aware of these impacts and try to control them.
Specific Expectations:
 use scientific inquiry/research skills to investigate occurrences that affect the
balance within a local ecosystem
Theory & Background Information
We need to breathe to stay alive. But how clean is the air we breathe? If you breathe
dirty air, it is more likely that you will develop health problems and become ill. Plants
and animals need clean air too. A lot of the things that make our lives more comfortable
such as cars, electricity and heating actually create bad gases, which make our air dirty.
The problem of air pollution started with the burning of coal in homes and factories. Dirty
air is called 'polluted air'.
'Air pollution' is what we say to describe all bad gases or other particulate matter in the
air that we breathe and that are dangerous for us. Do not worry! Not all gases are bad!
WHY IS BREATHING SO IMPORTANT?
We are constantly breathing, whether we notice it or not. Breathing is one of our body’s
functions that help us to stay alive.
In the lungs, a gas called oxygen (O2) passes from the air in the lungs into the blood.
The oxygen is carried in the blood through the entire body. We need oxygen so that our
bodies can use the energy in the food we eat. It is the oxygen in the air that helps keep
us alive and able to do so many different activities.
A BIT OF HISTORY…
A large example of air pollution in the past is 500 years ago in Britain when the burning
of coal was becoming more and more common in big cities like London. Coal was used
to power factories and to heat homes. When coal is burnt it makes a lot of smoke,
making the surrounding air very dirty and polluted.
About 200 years ago, the Industrial Revolution began in Britain. This was a time when
industry became the focus. Factories were being built at a quick rate, and more and
more coal was being burnt. With all of the new developments in the big cities, air
pollution was starting to become a big problem, especially when the weather was foggy.
With foggy conditions and light winds, the smoke or air pollution from the factories
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covered the whole city like a giant cloud.
When smoke and fog mix, it creates something called smog, which is like a big cloud of
air pollution hovering over big cities. In the winter, smog was becoming a large problem
because a lot more coal was being burnt for warmth. When smog was stuck over a city,
it became really hard to breathe and see clearly. In 1952, an occurrence called the
Great London Smog occurred and more than 4000 people died because of all the
smog in the air. After this disaster, the government created the ‘Clean Air Acts’ so that
events like this wouldn’t happen again. The Clean Air Acts aimed to get cleaner air in
the cities, and involved using less or cleaner coal. The use of gas instead of coal was
also encouraged and factories were moved to the outskirts of the cities. The act worked
and the amount of smog decreased.
WHAT IS TODAY'S AIR POLLUTION LIKE?
Have you ever noticed that the air in a city smells different from air in the country? One
of the reasons is that exhausts from vehicles give off fumes, or gases. These fumes and
gases can be bad for our health and the environment.
Today, when we think of air pollution, we should think of transport, especially cars.
Today there are about 563 vehicles on the road for every 1000 people in Canada. When
there are more than 30 million people living in Canada that comes out to a lot of cars
(about 16 million)! The gas these cars use releases a lot of pollution in the air.
When we are driving we can see smoke and steam coming out of every car’s tailpipe,
this is called the exhaust. The car exhausts eject a lot of bad gases, which create air
pollution. And with 16 million cars on the roads just in Canada, that makes a lot of
exhaust every single day of the year! These gases can be very dangerous for people
and the environment. Although the fuels are becoming cleaner, and cars more efficient
with the fuel, it will not be making that much difference because people are buying and
driving more and more cars. Today, air pollution has not really decreased from the past,
because new bad gases are released in the air, and there are a lot of them.
What are these Bad Gases?
Gases from vehicles:
Carbon monoxide (CO). CO is a gas that pollutes the air and is mainly released by
cars and vehicles. It has no colour or smell.
Nitrogen Oxides: These are emitted from vehicles, like cars and trucks. During rush
hour periods of the day high amounts of nitrogen oxides are released.
Hydrocarbons: Hydrocarbons are produced when gas isn’t fully burnt. They are one of
the causes of smog alerts today.
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Particulates: These are very small particles like soot, dust and fumes
that are released into the air. Along with vehicles, factories and homes
also emit these.
AIR POLLUTION INSIDE HOMES
We spend a large part of our lives at home and it does not often cross our mind that the
air we are breathing may be polluted. Pollution inside homes is called 'indoor air
pollution’ Indoor air pollution is usually very low. But there are factors and actions that
can increase it.
Fresh paint is a cause of indoor air pollution and so is the burning of fuels such as coal
and gas, in heaters, stoves and ovens.
But one of the main causes of indoor air pollution is smoking. Smoking cigarettes and
tobacco can be very dangerous for health. The poison in the smoke can cause heart
problems, lung cancer and other lung diseases. Cigarette smoke is dangerous for
people smoking but also for those who do not! Breathing in air, which contains other
people's smoke, can cause you the same health problems, for example lung cancer.
To reduce 'indoor air pollution', make sure the room is well ventilated while painting. Try
ventilating your home often, you can open windows or use a fan. And if your parents or
friends smoke, ask them to smoke outside.
Materials
Per Camper:
 1 cue card or small piece of paper
 1 tbsp Petroleum jelly
 1 Ziploc bag
 1 Magnifying glass
 Masking tape
 1 Dixie cup
Procedure
Preparations
1. Cut out index-card sized pieces of paper (if you do not already have cue cards).
2. Put petroleum jelly in small cups to pass out to groups of campers
Introduction
1. Ask campers if they have ever noticed that the air in a city smells different from air in
the country? One of the reasons is that exhausts from vehicles give off fumes, or gases,
which can be bad for our health.
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2. Talk to the students about air pollution, where it comes from in their
community
(e.g., vehicle exhaust, local factories) and how they know it is present (e.g.
Personal experience – asthma, soot in window panes of house, see pollution
coming out of vehicles, smell it, see it – especially during sunsets).
3. Ask campers if they know what some of these bad gases are.
a) Gases from vehicles:
i) Carbon monoxide (CO): CO is a gas that pollutes the air and is mainly released by
cars and vehicles. It has no colour or smell.
ii) Nitrogen Oxides: These are emitted from vehicles, like cars and trucks. During rush
hour periods of the day high amounts of nitrogen oxides are released.
iii) Hydrocarbons: Hydrocarbons are produced when gas isn’t fully burnt. They are one
of the causes of today’s smog alerts.
iv) Particulates: These are very small particles like soot, dust and fumes that are
released into the air. Vehicles, factories and smoke from homes are all sources of these
particulates.
4. Explain that indoor air pollution is usually very low. But a lot of things can increase it.
Fresh paint is a cause of indoor air pollution and so is the burning of fuels such as coal
and gas, in heaters, stoves and ovens. But one of the main causes of indoor air
pollution is smoking. Smoking cigarettes and tobacco can be very dangerous for health.
The poison in the smoke can cause heart problems, lung cancer and other lung
diseases.
5. Tell the students they are going to conduct an experiment to determine where air
pollution is found. They will decide which areas they want to test, collect data,
and then analyze it.
Activity
1. Have the campers work individually.
2. Tell each group to decide which areas they would like to test. For example: a wall
outside the classroom, a wall near the school’s parking lot, a tree next to a park, the
interior of their classroom, the interior of their home, the family car, their bicycle, or their
bike helmet.
3. Each group will also create a control for their experiment.
4. Label each index card with the location where it will be placed.
5. Smear petroleum jelly on the middle area of an index card. The air pollution particles
(those that are visible) will stick to the petroleum jelly.
Experimental Procedure
6. Once campers have prepared their index cards, they should make
observations of the appearance of the petroleum jelly.
7. They should make a hypothesis that answers this question: Which area
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will have the most air pollution stick to the petroleum jelly?
8. The students should then tape the index cards to the areas being tested for air
pollution.
9. The control is placed inside of a Ziploc bag
10. Campers will check their petroleum jelly samples the following day with magnifying
glasses to observe the difference between the control and their testing petroleum jelly.
11. Discuss the results with the class, why the different areas had different levels of
pollution and how we can reduce the amount of pollution in our area.
Activity Accommodations and Extensions
Accommodations
If campers don’t want to touch the Vaseline it can be placed on their paper for them and
they can simply spread it with a spoon. If poor fine motor control campers can use foam
brushes (from paint the van) to spread the Vaseline.
Extensions
Campers may be challenged to find varying conditions they can test the air in and must
make predictions where the most air pollution will be and the least and why. You can
also talk about the history of air pollution found in the background and theory section.
Safety Considerations
Don’t eat the Vaseline!
Resources
http://www.starteaching.com/AirPollutionExperiment.pdfList
http://www.clean-air-kids.org.uk/airquality.html
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