Air Quality in Your Bedroom
Although not as bad as many of the more industrial cities in China, there are still concerns about the air
quality of Hangzhou. The most commonly used measure of air quality is PM2.5. This records the levels of
particles in the air measuring about 2.5 micrometres (or 2.5 thousandths of a millimeter). This
measurement gives the mass in micrograms (millionths of a gram) of particles this size per cubic meter of
air. Smaller and larger particles are also bad for health, but particles of this size are considered the most
harmful, getting trapped in the lungs and leading to a number of health problems, such as asthma,
bronchitis, and heart disease (Wikipedia 2016). The majority of PM2.5 in Hangzhou comes from burning
coal in power stations, factories, and from iron manufacturing (Liu et al 2015).
In this assignment you will design and carry out an experiment to answer the following two questions:
How is the air quality in my bedroom (measured as levels of PM2.5) and is it likely to cause me health
problems?
You will write a full lab report. It will be graded on the following three sections:
Plan
This includes:
 Research question (which has already been written for you, above)
 Variables (independent, Dependent and Controlled)
 Prediction and hypothesis – what you predict you will find and why
 Equipment list
 Method, which should be a step-by-step guide outlining how the independent variable will be
altered, how the dependent variable will be measured and how the controlled variables will be kept
constant. It will also ensure sufficient data is collected.
Data collection and Analysis
This includes:
 The results table – this will be laid out clearly using the criteria learned in Semester One
 Data analyses, such as averages, calculations or other statistical analyses
 Graph – this will be computer generated (e.g. Excel, as we practiced in Semester One)
Conclusion and Evaluation
This includes:
 An answer to the research question
 Evidence for why you came to this conclusion
 An explanation for these findings
 Some background research to support your answer to the second question about health
 A discussion of whether the prediction was correct
 A discussion of the level of accuracy of the data (which usually involves looking back at repeats)
 A discussion of the possible sources of error in the data
 A discussion of how the method could have been better
Bibliography
Liu, G., Li, J., Wu, D. and Hui, X. (2015) Chemical composition and source apportionment of the ambient
PM2.5 in Hangzhou, China. Particuology, Volume 18, Pages 135–143.
Wikipedia (2016) Particulates. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particulates (accessed 25th Jan 2016)