Air Pollution and Health

Some scientists argue that air pollution now causes more deaths than smoking. The second unit in a six-part series focuses on air quality. Scholars learn what's in the air, how clean the air around their school is, and what they can do...

How do scientists determine the best method for removing pollutants from our water sources? Environmental scholars experiment with pollution clean-up options to discover which are the most cost-effective, fastest, and most thorough....

Meteorologists view an animated video by the Environmental Protection Agency to learn how the carbon cycle works, and then move into groups to analyze and graph actual data of the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration from Hawaii's...

Split your earth science or environmental studies class into groups and give each a scenario card. Scenario cards describe the lifestyles of 10 different fictitious families, focusing on their energy usage. Carbon dioxide emissions are...

Watt is going on here? Middle schoolers are learning about energy use and carbon dioxide emissions! In the first part of this lesson, learners measure how much energy different appliances consume and calculate the amount per day. In...

Carbon is all around us, as shown in this cartoon animation. The carbon cycle is portrayed simply and accurately with fun cartoon plants and animals. Use this video in an elementary or junior high class to facilitate your learners'...

Get out the goggles and conduct a simple experiment to model and explore the harmful effects of acid rain (vinegar) on living (green leaf and eggshell) and non-living (paper clip) objects. Young chemists observe and describe the harmful...

The greenhouse effect warms up earth enough so it can support life, but if it heats up too much, life won't be able to survive. An interactive presentation covers the greenhouse effect, the carbon cycle, climate forcing, and climate...

Introduce your young meteorologists to black carbon produced by the burning of fossil fuels by showing the video, "Changing Planet: Black Carbon." Viewers discover that deposition of this carbon on polar ice impacts the absorption of...

In this air quality worksheet, students use the EPA's Six Common Air Pollutants web site and the AIRNow web site to answer 9 questions about common air pollutants, how pollution affects people and the environment, how pollutants are...