Capital High School Radon Project

The origination of the radon project: Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest: Raise student interest in STEM subjects nationwide through innovative programs with our partners that will help us all build a better tomorrow. 1. Describe an important issue in your school’s community today. What is the biggest hurdle your students face that hinders their academic achievement? Explain how you could apply STEM to address the above issue

Central Ideas Connect to the STEM subjects Impact the local community Student centered Complete with a budget of $0 Engage 92 High School Students Connect with community partners

THE RADON PROJECT STEP 1: Initial Questions: After quick background research we started with a brainstorm session: 1) What is radon? 2) Why should I care? In 30 seconds or less, what is the most important information someone who knew nothing about radon would need to learn? What would someone who was testing their house need to know/learn?

Radon Just some of the questions! What is it? Where does it come from? Can I prevent it? How do you test for it? What should I do if my house tests high? Why do radon levels fluctuate? Are public buildings tested? (Schools) Are there laws or regulations about radon? Is it bad for human health? What about the radon health mines?

Starting the project (for each class): Brainstorm Essential Questions and research in small groups. Guest Speaker – Bonnie Rouse - DEQ Compile info into two info sheets (One for homeowners – One for the public

We did the background research ……. now what? BRAINSTORM: How will we get information to the public? Radio News stations Airplane sign Info booths at games, fairs, etc. FlyerNewspaper School Newspaper T-shirtsStickersCar Signs Youtube – rap Hang signs where “old people go” School Website FacebookSnapchatTwitter Helena Classifieds PSA

Community Partners: 100 test kits Guest speaker (THANKS BONNIE!) Expert input! (THANKS JOHN and BONNIE) DEQ $200 for test kits Help with project PR AAA Discount test kits Supplied information, ideas, and support for the project Airchek, Kansas State Radon Program

Other contacts and ideas for extension Lewis and Clark County St. Peter’s Hospital Governor’s Office Home Inspector Radon Mitigation Contractor

How should test kits be distributed? Facebook? Radio/TV ad? Earth day/Home owner shows? Schedule a pickup at CHS? DEQ reported that only a small % of test kits were returned. Usually people who asked for them that returned them.

Organizing 91 students for a project has it’s challenges….. It also has it’s perks!!!! Each student was responsible for 1 test kit. (DEQ kits that had prepaid postage). With parental permission, students could design an experiment and opt to run multiple test kits in their homes.

9 - Student Designed Projects (and 2 teacher ones) – Results returned to me – not DEQ Different Levels in a House Crawl Space vs. Living Space vs. Garage Granite Counters Floor, eye level, ceiling State test kit vs. AAA test kit Multiple rooms on one level

Initial Results Initial test results (n=31)  55% of homes above 4.0 pCi/L  County data = 49%  59% of homes without reported mitigation) systems  Average = 8.6 pCi/L  County data = 7.9 pCi/L  High = 49.0  Bar Graph? 4.4 pCi/L

Sample Data From Experiments ResidenceCrawl space Lowest level of the House # of times greater in Crawl Space Basement 1st Level% Change Average Change = -27.0%

What we would improve/do differently next time: Check out test kits to students (many completed the test kits but I couldn’t tie the data back to them). Possibly have students work in smaller groups to brainstorm and complete background research Complete with a smaller number of students (or have students working on multiple projects). Time the project differently. We had semester tests, State of Montana Testing, registration, etc. that broke the project into parts

Now What???? Analyze Data Develop and test hypotheses Map and GIS? Data Collection Earth Day Booth??? Connect with Lewis and Clark County to share results Extension Newspaper Television Community Outreach Other Ideas???