Air Pollution Project
Introduction: In this project students will research the composition, sources and health effects of smog, monitor smog levels in the San Bernardino Valley for a period of 2 months and write a report which calculates the average smog levels for the San Bernardino Valley for ozone, nitrous dioxide and carbon monoxide and determines whether the smog in the Valley is improving or worsening. Students will research smog using a Webquest format in which they will be directed to certain websites in order to answer specific questions about smog. Students will monitor smog using the Air Quality Management District’s data which is available online at The student’s final report will be word processed and include graphs for the three major constituents of smog: ozone, carbon monoxide and nitrous dioxide. Comparisons will be done with previous reports to determine if air quality is improving or not in our basin. This project is done individually although students may share data. Students will need a computer with internet access to complete the project.
Webquest (Due 2/1/2018): Students will answer the following questions about smog.
1)What makes up smog?
2)What are the major sources of each of the major components of smog?
3)Which parts of smog have been shown to be unhealthy for humans and what damage do they cause?
4)What levels of each of the components of smog have been deemed unhealthful?
The following sources are recommended for students to find the answers to these questions.
website of the air quality management district of southern California. The community pull down menu has public information link which takes you to brochures, videos and other resources that you would find useful in answering the webquest questions. Current and yesterday’s smog levels also be found under the community link.
is the air quality website of the Environmental Protection Agency of the federal government. The health facts link discusses pollution’s effect on health. The air quality index link discusses how parts per million and billion measurements are converted to a standard to determine whether the air is unhealthful. The educational resources link includes several informative articles on the constituents of smog and their health effects.
Questions should be answered in a word-processed document. Each question should take approximately a paragraph to answer with the total length of the paper being no more than two pages. This research will graded for correctness, clarity and completeness.
Air Quality Monitoring: Students will monitor air quality on a daily basis using the smog levels link on the AQMD website at The East San Bernardino Valley station is located near Mentone and is labeledstation 35 on the AQMD map. Daily highs for ozone, fine particulate matter, particulate matter, nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide should be recorded in a written log for a two month period starting on 2/1and ending on 4/3. The high and low temperatures should also be recorded along with a brief description of the weather. The log may be hand written and will be graded as to completeness.
Final Report: The final report should be word processed and be no more than 5 total pages long. An outline of the report’s contents is shown below:
1)Introduction describing who, what, when, where and how measurements were made.
2)A graph of the air quality index vs. date for O3, CO, and NO2.
3)Paragraph detailing the highs, lows and average values of the measured smog components during the measurement period.
4)Paragraph detailing the number of unhealthful days recorded during the measurement period and a comparison of this number to previous year’s numbers along with a concluding statement as to whether the study showed the air quality improving or worsening.
5)Appendix showing raw data collected during two month period.
The report should be word processed and not exceed 5 pages including graphs but not the appendix.
Due Dates:
Web Quest Due------2/1/2018 at lunch
Data Collection2/1-4/3/2018
Data Check in and report discussion 4/3/2018 at lunch
Final Report --- 4/13/2018
Revised 12/13/2017