GLOBE Ireland Classroom Resource:
Introduction to
Air Quality
Early Primary School Edition
What is pollution?
What is pollution?
Pollution: Anything that makes the Earth dirty and unsafe for people, animals, and plants
There are many types of pollution.
Today we will focus on Air Pollution
What is air pollution?
Air pollution: When dirty or harmful substances, like smoke or chemicals, mix with the air.
Air pollution is bad for living things – including us!
Air quality (AQ): The amount of air pollution.
Which city has a lot of air pollution?
Option A
Option B
Which city has a LOW air quality?
Option A
Option B
Most of Ireland’s air pollution comes from cars & burning of wood/peat/coal etc. for heat
Source: www.independent.ie
Some groups of people are more likely to get sick from air pollution.
These are:
Monitoring Stations
Satellites
Source: European Space Agency
Experts most often use the following equipment to measure AQ:
But it’s not just experts who measure air quality anymore!
Which of these is NOT air pollution?
Clouds
Cow farts
Car exhaust fumes
A
B
C
Volcano smoke
D
Which of these is NOT air pollution?
Clouds
Cow farts
Car exhaust fumes
A
B
C
Volcano smoke
D
Why is air pollution bad?
It makes clouds taste weird
It can harm plants & animals
A
It can make us sick
B
C
It can make climate change worse
D
Why is air pollution bad?
It makes clouds taste weird
It can harm plants & animals
A
It can make us sick
B
C
It can make climate change worse
D
Ways that YOU can help lower air pollution
Let’s be citizen scientists!
Question: Do you think the air around our school is clean or dirty?
Let’s find out!
What we’re doing today:
Let’s make our own smog!