Clean Air Zone Service Learning Project

Service learning provides essential opportunities for students to develop civic participation skills, values and attitudes and acquire first hand knowledge of the topics they are studying. It is an important component of the Maine Learning Results standards in social studies content areas.

This project promotes no-idling in the school yard. Many drivers drop off and pick up students before and after school and leave their vehicles idling. This can create air quality problems in and around the school that can exacerbate health effects like respiratory and heart problems. The air pollutants from vehicles can contribute to ozone air pollution problems and may even be a factor in triggering an asthma attack or heart arrythmia.

You can select from an assortment of downloadable curriculum enrichment activities and resource materials provided below. Pick and choose the teaching tools that will be most useful to you and your students in introducing concepts about air quality, health and transportation impacts. These activities are designed to engage students in becoming communications experts on Clean Air Zones in their school community. If you live in Maine you can also invite our Energy Educators from the Maine Green Schools project to faciliate these activites in a classroom or workshop setting. We also recommend the Gallery Walk and Eco-Detectives skit for adult audiences that you'd like to engage in a service learning project.

Student Teams select, plan and implement a civic action plan to conduct research, educate drivers and clear the air. The data they collect will help them to evaluate the project's effectiveness. They can use our pre-designed campaign tools or create their own (posters, flyers, etc). They can host a family social event or use existing school and community events to educate their families and community about things they can do to ensure clean air for better health. They might create displays, design school web pages, produce video clip psa's, or even work with community volunteers in a driver "intervention" (approaching drivers after school in the driveway and asking them to pledge not to idle unnecessarily).

CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES

GalleryWalk/Scavenger Hunt (MEEP, Kids in Transportation, Maine DEP poster sets)

How we Get Around - Mapping Activity (adapted from Project Learning Tree)

The Air We Breathe Experiment (MaineDEP)

The Clean Air Game (created by Maine science teacher Page Keeley)

More learning games... (created by UMF pre-service teachers)

STUDENT RESEARCH

Eco-Detectives Skit and Driver Observation Data Collection (adapted - Eco-Kids Online)

PLAN YOUR EDUCATION OUTREACH CAMPAIGN

Create Your Own Communications Strategies & Tools (Maine Cool Communities Partners)

PHOTO GALLERY OF Clean Air Zone activities/event

Curriculum Activities:

Poster Gallery/Scavenger Hunt Activity (Worksheet)

This (downloadable) Gallery of seven poster sets and a scavenger hunt worksheet was created by CAZ project partners to interactively introduce students to the major concepts in air quality, health and transportation and how they relate to each other. We recommend allowing students about 20 minutes to move through the Poster Gallery and search for answers to the scavenger hunt questions. Then debrief the students by going over selected answers as a whole group.

Poster Set 1 - Alternative Fuels (p1-3)

Poster Set 2 - Air Pollution (p1, 2&3)

Poster Set 3 - CAZ (CBSM, Idling Myths 1,2)

Poster Set 4 - Health Effects (EPAPoster, Asthma 1,2)

Poster Set 5 - History of Transporation (p1-3)

Poster Set 6 - Transportation Choices (A, B, C)

Poster Set 7 - Reducing Our Carbon Footprint (1, 2)

Scavenger Hunt Worksheet (see link above)

image of student map Mapping Activity/How We Get Around

(A 20 minute geography and social studies personal mapping exercise.)

Students draw a map in this adaptation of a Project Learning Tree activity. We ask students to each draw a map of how they get around their community including places they go and what they do. If adults are present, they are interspersed between the small groups and we ask them to draw a map of how they got around at the age of 10.

Small groups of four or five students each draw their maps and share them within their small group (10 mins). Next, in a whole group discussion, a representative from each group offers a synopsis of the similarities and differences between their group members. When an older student or adult participates in a group we reflect on how dramatically our transportation strategies have changed over the years. In a workshop setting we often see students with urban and rural backgrounds who get to compare their transportation needs, opportunities (e.g. buses, bikes, cars etc) and experiences.

(Download Activity Handout by clicking here)

The Air We Breathe Activity/Experiment

Download BodyMath worksheets here: (Elementary) (Middle/High School)

In this experiment students test their lung capacity and create a "living graph". Using balloons or peak flow meters to measure their lung capacity (balloons) or health (peak flow meters); then form a living graph to discuss what variables (body size, athleticism, gender, age, etc) can affect the "healthiness" of their lungs. (Time for experiment, graphing and reflections - about 30 minutes.)

Students are asked to blow up a balloon using the biggest breath they can take in and blow out all the air they can into the balloon - and then to measure it's circumference with a tape measure (or use peak flow meters to get a flow rate) - as a measure of the capacity and conditioning of their lungs. After taking 3 readings and averaging the values (or using the middle value) - they are asked to line up in order of that number and form a "living graph". (Students with respiratory or heart health issues are asked to be in charge of taking/recording the measurments because we don't want them to put themselves at risk.)

Reflection: While students are in-line, you can discuss the attributes that seem to influence their lung volume capacity and brainstorm ways they could potentially improve their lung capacity/healthiness.

Simulated Asthma experience: Keeping the students in line we invite anyone that does not have breathing or heart problems - to do another experiment which simulates what it feels like to have an asthma attack. Each student is provided a (coffee stirrer) straw and asked to try to plug their nose and breathe through the straw for up to 60 seconds. Be sure to let them know it's okay to stop if the need to. Then use a clock to time the experiment and start by saying "go". Then...

Personal asthma story sharing: While the students are "breathing through the straw" is a great opportunity to ask the other students with asthma - to share a story of their experiences with asthma attacks and the steps they use to control an attack - like remaining calm, breathing slowly, forced exhalations, etc. We've found this to be a great awareness building activity that helps to build an understanding of the physical and emotional effects of asthma and the students telling their stories get very engaged in doing so.

Asthma similation reflection: Ask the students who did the experiment to describe how it felt. We follow this up by explaining what's happening to the body during an asthma attack - how the "bronchial or breathing tubes" swell and fill with mucus - making the tube smaller. Then can actually begin to spasm making it even more difficult to breath and the person can become quite anxious.

Transitional discussion: So, what might be some ways to reduce exposure to asthma triggering pollutants that might be in our air? (dust, pollen, mold, smoke, etc.) Are there any other invisible air pollutants that we should be aware of?

Clean Air Game & Pollution Character Posters

(Playing time - about 20-30 minutes. )

Download instructions, manipulatives and scoresheet here. You will need dice and tokens.

Students play this game for about 15 minutes in small groups of 4. The game board poster is available upon request from MaineDEP (be sure to include your mailing address in your email request) - can be used with 5th-12th graders to learn about where air pollution comes from and how people can make choices that will reduce the pollutants we put into the air each day.

We like to use the Character Posters below to introduce the 6 types of Air Pollutants in the game.

Teams of 4 students play the game trying to achieve the cleanest air possible. Students can use something from their desk or pocket for a playing piece (e.g. eraser, paperclip, coin, jewelry or piece of paper). Ask students to place their playing piece on one of the Green Start spaces. After rolling the dice, each student is allowed to choose which way to move their playing piece around the game board in order to choose the action that will result in the cleanest air. The student reads the "action" in the space they land in - out loud - and then moves their playing piece to the appropriate space.

Students use the score sheet to record pollution points and the "actions" that happen as they play the game. You will also need to provide students with either squares of colored paper, cheerios or other manipulatives to represent the pollutant points on their atmosphere score sheet.

To debrief after playing the game - identify which teams have the cleanest air and the dirtiest air. Each team of students are then asked to give examples of what happened to them while playing the game that contributed to cleaner air and dirtier air.

These entertaining (downloadable) Character Posters provide fun visualizations that can be used to introduce the Clean Air Game pollutants or used on their own with younger students to introduce different types of air pollution causes and effects. Hanging them around the room allows students a chance to keep referring to them as they play the game and seems to help visual learners have a better understanding of the pollutants and their health effects.

Poster 1 - The Ozonator

Poster2 - Particulate Man, the Lurking Hulk

Poster 3 - The Creepy Critters, VOC & NOx

Poster 4 - Leadman

Poster 5 - Gasper the CO Phantom

Poster 6 - Acid Man, Sulfur Dioxide

Eco-Detective Skit - an impromptu play for students to read and understand how to respectfully ask people not to idle their vehicles. Students really enjoy creating props and putting on this short skit for other classes or for parents at a school event to help communicate their concerns about Clean Air Zones and no-idling in their community. It can be a really fun way to deliver an important message.

Download Eco-Detective Script here.

STUDENT RESEARCH

Eco-Detective Observers and Data Analysis

This project requires some student research observing and recording the number of drivers that idle in the school yard after school. The Eco-Kids web site link here provides you with the Data Collection Sheet for students to use to collect that data. After they collect the data, they can create an Excel spreadsheet and graph the number of cars that idled and the minutes they idled. (Eco-Kids data sheet, calculation worksheet, graphing worksheet)

You will need to collect data BEFORE they educate their parents and other drivers as well as AFTER the education campaign. We recommend a 30 minute driver observation period at the end of the school day for one or more days. It's helpful to collect the data on days with similar outdoor temperatures so the results will reflect similar driver behavior patterns.

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EDUCATION OUTREACH CAMPAIGN & INTERVENTIONS

This is where your team creates a service learning campaign plan. You need a strategy (who is the audience you want to reach, where and when) and a plan (what communications tools will best reach this audience). Then you need to create or obtain the tools you need. Dividing up the responsibilities will help you get things done.

Your teams can choose the type and magnitude of driver communications (interventions) to use in your campaign. The most dramatic results in driver behavior change happens when you have local volunteers who can work with your students and actually approach drivers after school, asking them not to idle and providing them with one of the Clean Air Zone informational handouts shown below (or something you created).

Many teams have designed posters and flyers to bring home to their parents or display in school, library or other community places. (See some examples below in UMF project.) Some older students have created news columns, letters to the editor of local newspapers, videos or power point slide shows for local cable tv stations or other communications media to reach their chosen audience.

If your Service Learning Teams would like to prepare Eco-detective skit props and perform at a school or community social event they could use our skit (or create their own) as part of the festivities along with having a display at school events and handing out campaign materials. You might even have teams of students visit other classrooms and do the skit along with a curriculum activity so more students can help spread the word to their parents about your important campaign.

You might want to fundraise to purchase Clean Air Zone no-idling signs that school officials could put up for you. (In Maine, the signs are available to purchase for $15 each, from the Maine Partners for Cool Communities by contacting Joan Saxe at this email link.) Check with your school principal for permission before you order signs.

Of course, your team will need to get permission from the teacher and principal to conduct your clean air zone project and they will want to make sure your communications tools won't offend anyone.

Eco-Detective Communications - Posters & Flyers

Engage the students in a discussion about who they think their audience should be and the best ways to share what they've learned and why people shouldn't idle their vehicles. We strongly recommend that student teams be encouraged to avoid scaring their target audience in order to convince them to stop idling.

Clean Air Zone Flyer - A Flyer Template we created for younger students to color and fill out to bring home to parents. (This flyer can be used as an assessment tool as well.)

HANDOUTS TO REPRODUCE & USE IN A CAMPAIGN

TO PROMOTE NO IDLING & CLEAN AIR ZONES (Optional)

These social marketing tools have been focus group tested and used in several Maine communities and may offer you an advantage of "branding" (using a recognizable, already existing campaign to help reinforce your messages). The focus groups liked them because they used a positive, humorous approach for their message rather than a negative approach.

School Breeze flyer for parents

Clean Air Zone fact sheet (1/2 page)

Tip Cards

Pledge Cards

Magnets/window decals for vehicles

Some of these tools may be available free to Maine schools (while supplies last) by contacting MaineDEPs' Deb Avalone-King via this email link.

University of Maine Farmington - Pre-service teachers' service learning project:

University of Maine Students Service Learning Project in Farmington (photos)

MORE learning games created by UMF pre-service teachers:

Clean Air matching Game (word & picture cards)

Caring Children Can Clean the Air (Dolly '06 - board game)

Give a Hoot - Dont Pollute (Danforth, London, Ryder '06 - board game)