Air pollution directly affects human health endpoints including growth, respiratory processes, cardiovascular health, fertility, pregnancy outcomes, and cancer. Therefore, the distribution of air pollution is a topic that is relevant to all, and of direct interest to many students. Air quality varies across space and time, often disproportionally affecting minority communities and impoverished neighborhoods. Air pollution is usually higher in locations where pollution sources are concentrated, such as industrial production facilities, highways, and coal-fired power plants. The United States Environmental Protection Agency manages a national air quality-monitoring program to measure and report air-pollutant levels across the United States. These data cover multiple decades and are publicly available via a website interface.
Results/Conclusions
We developed an activity in which students learn how to mine data from the EPA AirQuality website. They work in pairs to develop their own questions about air quality that span spatial and/or temporal scales, and then gather the data needed to answer their question. The students analyze their data and write a scientific paper describing their work. This laboratory experience requires the students to generate their own questions, gather and interpret data, and draw conclusions, allowing for creativity and instilling ownership and motivation for deeper learning gains.