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What does it look like? Is it polluted?
The air you breathe contains small particles called particulate matter. It includes smoke, sea salt, soot, dust, dirt, and water droplets. These particles can come from a variety of sources such as automobiles, mines, construction sites, vehicular traffic on dirt roads, factories, and burning wood. Particulate matter in significant concentrations can reduce visibility, contribute to smog formation, and cause respiratory problems. Some particles are large or dark enough to be seen like soot or smoke. Other particles, which can also adversely affect your health, are tiny and can only be detected with special equipment.
In this field adventure, your goal is to discover the amount of particulate matter in the air near your home, school, science center, or even Aunt Emma's backyard. When you finish your field work, please come back to this site to enter and share your results with others. You will also discover how your neighborhood's air compares with the air in neighborhoods of other Citizens for Planet Earth participants.
Preparing for the Field Adventure
This is another fun activity for the entire family or your friends, but make sure there's an adult on the team when you go into the field. (Aunt Emma would be perfect, especially if she brings the snacks.)
1. Build five air collectors to test for the amount of particulate matter that is released into your neighborhood. Here are two ways to build an air collector:
A. Contact Paper Collectors: Use clear contact paper that you can buy at the grocery store or drug store. Cut a sheet of contact paper into five 4-inch squares. Peel the backing from each. Use thumbtacks to attach each square to separate small pieces of cardboard, keeping the sticky side up to collect particles.
B. Wax Paper Collectors: Cut wax paper or clear plastic into five 4-inch squares. Use thumbtacks to attach each square to separate small pieces of cardboard. Rub a thin coating of petroleum jelly over the surface of the wax paper. Use just enough to make the surface sticky enough to collect particles.
2. Choose an outdoor air particulate collection site near each of the following five locations in your neighborhood:
a. Your Home
b. A Park or Green Space
c. A Busy Intersection
d. A School or Science Center
e. A Factory or Construction Site
Using string, heavy-duty tape or thumbtacks, place one air collector in each of the five areas, making sure to leave the collectors where they won’t be disturbed or blown away. Label each collector with the name of the location so you will know where it came from. Leave the collectors undisturbed for a minimum of three days.
After three or more days, pick up your collectors. Carefully remove the collection paper from the cardboard. Can you see any particles on them with the naked eye? If not, look at them with a magnifying glass or microscope. Sort your collectors by how clean or dirty they are. Now share your results online.
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