Whirling Swirling Air Pollution

• In this activity, students investigate particulate air pollution from individual activities, evaluate the environmental impact of this pollution, and consider how they can reduce it.
• The teacher narrates a made-up story, and students work in pairs to drop food coloring into their cups of water to simulate the pollution.

Positives

• This activity encourages students to think critically by reviewing the results of their experiment and evaluating the environmental impact of their daily activities.
• Students learn about particle pollution in a fun way using food coloring and working in pairs.

Additional Prerequisites

• The teacher must prepare the materials and come up with a story to tell or use the guide provided.
• The teacher must review the background information and explain it to the students before the activity begins.

Differentiation

• This resource can be used as a hands-on activity in a lesson on particulate air pollution.
• Students can create a video or poster to raise people's awareness of their contributions to air pollution.
• If the teacher has a large enough container available, he/she can ask students to pour their water into it and then ask them to comment on the combined effect of each individual's pollution.
• Teachers can expand on this activity by discussing the connections between poor air quality and negative health outcomes such as asthma, cardiovascular diseases, and lung cancer.

• Other resources related to this topic include Mapping Air Pollution in Oakland, CA and Youth Climate Story: Climate Justice and Air Pollution in Illinois.