Air Pollution

Experiment

SYNOPSIS
Students will test different areas to assess levels of air pollution.

OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to describe some of the variables that may lead to
increased levels of air pollution.

VOCABULARY
• air pollution
o the introduction of chemicals into the atmosphere of particulate
matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to
humans or other living organisms, or damages the natural
environment (from Wikipedia)

MATERIALS
• index cards (several per student or group)
• petroleum jelly
• knives (or something to spread the petroleum jelly with)
• duct tape and masking tape
• scissors
• one Ziploc-style bag per group

DISCUSSION PRIOR TO EXPERIMENT

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
emanating from vehicles, smell it, see it – especially during sunsets).

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.
PROCEDURES
1. Divide students into cooperative learning groups of three to four students
or have them 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. To
increase the accuracy of the experiment, and avoid the loss of data,
each of these areas should be tested with three to five data collection
tools.
3. Each group will also create a control for their experiment.
Preparing the data collection tool
4. Label each index card with the location Family car
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 the students 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
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-style bag and put inside of a
drawer or cabinet.
10. Students can determine when they will make observations of their index
cards. For instance, they could make observations every two days for
two weeks, or once each week for three weeks. When they make their
observations, they can take photographs of the index cards to
document the amount of particles sticking to the petroleum jelly, they
can examine them with magnifying lenses, or note the percentage of
the area with particles attached. (Divide area into a 10 x 10 grid and
count how many squares have particles.) The controls should also be
observed on the same schedule as the cards in the exposed areas.
Students should write the data in their science journal.
 11. Once the designated data collection time has been reached, the index
cards, including the control, are gathered and brought into the
classroom for further analysis.
12. They should be able to determine which of their cards has the most air
pollution particles on it.
13. Have them reflect on their hypotheses (made in #7) and determine if it
was correct.
14. Discuss or have them write down the results of the experiment.
15. Discuss or have them write down their conclusions and reflections. Why
did some of the cards collect more pollution than others? Can they do
anything to change the amount of air pollution particles in that area
(e.g., close the window to the classroom or their home, ride their bikes
on streets with less traffic)?

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING

Have the students write a paragraph describing some of the variables they tested
through their experiment that may lead to increased air pollution.