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Author

The World Air Quality Index Project

Grades

6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th

Subjects

Science, Social Studies, Earth and Space Sciences, Geography

Resource Types

  • Interactive Media
  • Charts, Graphs, and Tables

Regional Focus

Global

World's Air Pollution: Real-time Air Quality Index

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Synopsis
  • This interactive world map shows the real-time air-quality index in thousands of locations.
  • Students can hover over places to view the air quality data for the past 12 months.
  • Students can read detailed information and explore links to further information regarding air quality in each location.
Teaching Tips

Positives

  • Students can click on the location icon in the top right-hand corner of the map to get information about their local air quality.
  • Students can view data on specific pollutants by clicking on the layers icon.

Additional Prerequisites

  • Students should be familiar with the concept of air quality and air pollutants.

Differentiation

  • After looking at the map, students can formulate research questions about specific locations. Students could examine why certain locations have healthy or unhealthy air quality or they could look at how air quality has changed in a certain location over time.
  • Earth science classes could discuss the different types of air pollutants and how they differ from one another.
Scientist Notes
This resource is valid and considered satisfactory for teaching Air Quality Index, pollution abatement, and environmental justice. Real-time data is accurate, although data points are negligible for generalizations. This may not be sufficient for replication.
Standards
  • Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
    • ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
      • MS-ESS3-2 Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.
      • MS-ESS3-4 Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
      • HS-ESS3-5 Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.
    • LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
      • HS-LS2-2 Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.
  • College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
    • Dimension 2: Geography
      • D2.Geo.3.9-12 Use geographic data to analyze variations in the spatial patterns of cultural and environmental characteristics at multiple scales.
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