Citation:

Ryder, O., S. Brown, A. Clements, R. Duvall, R. Smoak, Christine Duboiski, S. Waldo, AND India Young. Is that smoke affecting me? Using crowdsourced public data to explore air quality during smoke events. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, 2022.

Impact/Purpose:

To determine ambient air quality conditions around the U.S., criteria air pollutants are measured at a limited number of sites using expensive, regulatory-grade instruments. New, lower-cost air sensors have become available to the public who are using the devices to learn more about air quality in their communities.  As part of a Regional/State/Tribal Innovation Project (RSTIP) with EPA Region 10, air sensor loan programs were developed in partnership with tribal communities in Alaska, Idaho, and Washington. This is one of five interactive lesson plans developed through RSTIP projects with EPA Regions 5, 9, and 10. It is designed to help people learn about how to find information about air quality in their communities and the impacts of smoke on air quality by using the AirNow Fire and Smoke Map. This project advances our knowledge of air sensor use and promotes participatory science while simultaneously advancing EPA’s goals of collaborating with impacted stakeholders and providing ways for the public to engage in research studies.  Groups that would be interested or could apply the results from this research include public libraries, museums, schools, communities, state/local/tribal air agencies, EPA Regional Offices, and other federal agencies.

Description:

Air sensors can help make invisible air pollution visible! This hands-on, interactive lesson plan is designed to give users an introduction to air sensors and provides activities for exploring how local and regional air quality is impacted by smoke using the AirNow Fire and Smoke Map. This main portion of this activity does not require access to an air quality sensor. This suite of materials has been compiled to support classroom, individual, and/or group program instruction. While this 1-hour lesson is targeted to 6th grade learners, it can be adapted for any learner level or learning context; examples of adaptions are included in the supplementary slides. This lesson plan includes the main lesson plan document with an extension activity and information about how the lesson aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), an introductory slideset, a supplemental slideset featuring historical images of fire and smoke episodes and examples of how the lessons can be adapted for advanced and younger learners, and a data collection worksheet with answer key.

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