1. We affect air quality. Air quality affects us.
ESON AQHI School Presentation
We affect air quality. Air quality affects us.
Introduce yourself
What do you do
What do you like about your job
What we will talk about today – TAKE HOME MESSAGE (presentation title)
Mention that this will be interactive and students will have chances to respond, get up and move around and contribute.
“Please raise your hand so I can make sure everyone get a chance.”
*Have someone take notes on student answers and discussions
Bring:
Worksheets
CD for teacher
Magnets
AQHI fortune teller sheets (and 1 built for show)
AQHI scale?
AQHI Poster for classroom

2. ESON AQHI School Presentation
What is air quality?
“What does “air quality” mean to you – what does it make you think of?”
Air quality is a measure of how good or bad the air is based on how much pollution is in it, or how it looks and smells (we’ll talk today about outside air).
“How is our air quality in Edmonton (or city you are in)?”
We enjoy very clean air in Edmonton – we rarely have poor air quality. Much better than large cities in the United States or Europe.
Largely a result of the number of people in our city, versus larger cities in US or Europe.
[short group discussion]
8:25 AM

3. ESON AQHI School Presentation
We affect air quality.
“Did you know that we all affect air quality with the things that we do”
“What are some ways that people affect air quality? – pollute the air outside
[WORKSHEET QUESTION]
[take some ideas down on Smartboard or whiteboard]
8:25 AM

4. ESON AQHI School Presentation
We affect air quality.
“Most air pollution comes from burning fuel – could be gas for cars or lawn mowers, fuel to run a factory or to make electricity, wood for heating or campfires, or heating our homes by furnaces or wood burning fire places”
“This shows that each one of us affects air quality.”
[TAKE HOME MSG: We affect air quality]
“Some air pollution is also natural – we can’t control.”
(e.g., forest fires, dust, chemical naturally release from trees, volcanoes, even sloughs and swamps)
8:25 AM

5. ESON AQHI School Presentation
What can we do about it?
“So we affect air quality. But we can make choices to protect the air quality outside” [WORKSHEET QUESTION]
Driving vs. walking or riding bike, carpooling, taking the bus, reducing the energy we use, planting trees.
[If time permits can ask for other suggestions]
8:25 AM

6. What are some ways weather affects air quality?
ESON AQHI School Presentation
What are some ways weather affects air quality?
“In Science this year you are learning about weather” “Did you know that weather affects air quality?” (can change it)
“What are some ways that weather can affect air quality?”
[WORKSHEET QUESTION]
Wind can move pollution around, and mixing in the air stops pollution from building up (like adding salt to soup, then stirring so it mixes all around and spreads out)
Rain removes pollution from the air (so does snow) – [may get a comment on acid rain]
The sun can bake molecules in the air and make pollution, OR the sun can change chemicals in the air
8:25 AM

7. Weather affects air quality
ESON AQHI School Presentation
Weather affects air quality
WIND
“Wind moves pollution around and spreads it out through mixing.”
“When winds are very calm, pollution doesn’t move and can build up.”
8:25 AM

8. ESON AQHI School Presentation
Air quality affects us.
“So…..we affect air quality, and the weather affects air quality
but air quality also affects us”
“We need air to breathe.”
“You could go days without food and hours without water, but you would last only a few minutes without air”
Don’t expand - move to next slide for activity….
8:25 AM

9. Breathe Easy Experiment
ESON AQHI School Presentation
Breathe Easy Experiment
“What is it like if you can’t breathe well?” “Has anyone had that experience?”
[makes it hard to do things, etc.]
“We’re going to do a science experiment on breathing to see what it feels like to breathe in different conditions.”
“Before we start we are going to hypothesize, that is guess what we think will happen, then we’ll do the experiment and see if we were right.”
[USE STRAW ACTIVITY GUIDE – likely 20 minutes] Hand out straws and ask students not to use them until you say go.
[ask teacher first if there are any children with asthma that may have trouble with this activity]
After activity – reiterate: AIR QUALITY AFFECTS US
“What happened?” “Were your hypotheses correct”
“How did if feel breathing through the straw compared to normal breathing?”
“What changed after you exercised?” – mention that everyone is different (some people may not notice)
“How might air pollution in the air outside affect our breathing?”
mention that aq is normally good (except with firesmoke)
“How might air pollution outside affect someone with asthma?”
8:25 AM

10. Some other ways air quality can affect our health
ESON AQHI School Presentation
Some other ways air quality can affect our health
tight chest
itchy eyes
scratchy / sore throat
stuffy nose
“So bad air quality can make it hard to breathe
what are some other ways air quality can affect our health?”
[WORKSHEET QUESTION #1]
“What might you notice or
how might you feel when the air outside is polluted?” – [SYMPTOMS APPEAR ON CLICK]
trouble breathing
coughing
wheezing
smell an odour
8:25 AM

11. What does this mean for you and me?
ESON AQHI School Presentation
What does this mean for you and me?
Human hair
70 micrometers
Fine particles
2 micrometers
“So air quality affects us.” “We need air to breathe.”
“But we can’t always see pollution in the air.”
“One pollutant that affects our health, but we may not see, is particulate matter – small particles in the air.”
“Our body’s are pretty good at filtering out particles – large particles are removed by coughing, sneezing or swallowing.”
“Some particles are very tiny – tiny enough to get into our lungs.”
[CLICK to bring up image of PM2.5]
[compare size of our hair (70 micrometers) to fine particulate matter (~ 2 micrometers)]
8:25 AM

12. ESON AQHI School Presentation
What is in the air?
SCIENTISTS monitor the air and report
“If we can’t always see pollution, how do we know what is in the air?”
“Air scientists measure pollution in the air and report on whether it is good or bad.”
[measure what pollution is in the air and how much]
“This is a picture of an air monitoring station. We measure air quality and weather here”.
“For weather we measure things like temperature, wind speed, wind direction, moisture in the air.”
[can point out the wind instruments on the tower]
[air quality instruments are inside, can expand if time permits]
Discuss particulate monitors and hand out sample PM filters so students can see what is collected.
8:25 AM

13. Air Quality Health Index
ESON AQHI School Presentation
Air Quality Health Index
“This is the Air Quality Health Index.” “Has anyone heard of it?”
“This is how we can measure how air might affect our health.” – including some of the symptoms we talked about
“It has numbers from 1 to 10 like the UV Index.”
BRIEFLY explain scale – the lower the number the lower the risk to health
OR the higher the number the more pollution in the air
“What do you notice about the colors in the scale?” “How do they change?”
8:25 AM

14. Air Quality Health Index Video
ESON AQHI School Presentation
Air Quality Health Index Video
“Here is a video explaining more about the Air Quality Health Index and how air quality affects us”
Forward to next slide to start video. If this doesn’t work you can go back to this slide and click on the picture to open YouTube in a new window.
Ideally, do not click on the picture, just forward to next slide to start embedded video.
Video is approx. 1 minute long.
“So we can use the Air Quality Health Index to know how the air quality is outside before we go out to play or exercise.”
8:25 AM

15. ESON AQHI School Presentation
Click to start YouTube video.
Click on border of slide to advance to next slide.
8:25 AM

16. ESON AQHI School Presentation
What can we do about it?
EVERYONE
can check the Air Quality Health Index
“So air quality affects us. What can we do about it?”
Everyone can check the Air Quality Health Index to see what kind of air day it is, just like checking the weather.
“Do you remember this scale we looked at earlier?” “It has numbers that go from 1 to 10.”
Describe what categories mean – what you might notice
[ good, normal]
[ pollution build up, smog – may not notice to look outside]
[7+ -- you would probably see and feel a difference, e.g. forest fire smoke]
“There is a website where you can check the AQHI”
[GO TO NEXT SLIDE for website – clicking link will open a new window and take you away from presentation]
airquality.alberta.ca
8:25 AM

17. Air Quality Health Index, Edmonton
ESON AQHI School Presentation
Air Quality Health Index, Edmonton
[When you advance to this slide, the AQHI website will be displayed automatically – JUST WAIT.]
**You need the “Liveweb” PowerPoint plugin in order to be able to view the live website**
Show AQHI in current location. Describe how to find today’s value.
[If internet is not available, click on and delete the “LiveWeb” box on the screen and update slide with image to show the conditions that day].
Go through health messages briefly.
[tie in with earlier discussions]
Show forecast – “just like a weather forecast”
“A weather forecast helps us plan our day by telling us the temperature or the UV index
so we know whether to take a coat, carry an umbrella or put on sunscreen.”
“Same with air quality.”
“The air quality forecast helps us plan to go outside to play or exercise, or to change our activities when the air quality is not good.”
[recall the straw activity when we exercised – air pollution + exercising can make it even harder to breathe – we take in more air]
“When air quality is bad, we might also choose to stay inside.”
[this does not happen often in Edmonton – maybe if there was a forest fire]

18. ESON AQHI School Presentation
Air quality affects us.
We affect air quality.
Reiterate take-home message.
8:25 AM

19. ESON AQHI School Presentation
LET’S PLAY A GAME!
Play the Air Quality Jeopardy Game
Air Quality Jeopardy Game
[16-square game should be a good length, or 25-square for a longer presentation]
Try to finish game with about 5 minutes left over for questions and handing out materials.
8:25 AM

20. THANK YOU! Do you have questions?
ESON AQHI School Presentation
THANK YOU! Do you have questions?
* Hand out magnets, worksheet and AQHI paper game
* Poster for classroom?