Clean Air, Clean Future

What did you do and how did you involve the whole school?

Before measuring the air quality using the monitors, the pupils looked at the different layers of the Earth’s atmosphere; which include the Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere and Exosphere.

During Earth week, the whole school studied the importance of trees and how they play an essential role. During this time, we took part in a tree planting session with The John Burns Foundation in Kidwelly, planted trees and a variety of plants in our local area, collected litter in conjunction with Cadw Cymru’n Daclus/ Keep Wales Tidy’s Spring Clean, as well as partaking in a Maint Cymru workshops on the importance of trees.

Puplis created cartoon characters to resemble the main gases in the environment, including additional facts about each one e.g. dangers. This was the learners’ introduction to PM10, PM2.5 and carbon monoxide, which was essential before using the air quality monitors.

The STEM partner provided examples of data collected from various locations within Swansea from the pupils to analyse and interpret. This also gave them a clear indication of what they would be doing as part of their own investigation as well as a class debate as to why some areas had better quality of air than others.

 

How and why did you decide on this target?

The aim of this study was to allow the learners to investigate the options that currently exist, and those that are being proposed for the future of personal transportation and the effects these different options will have on air pollution, the climate and the wider environment.

It is often assumed that personal transportation moving to a 100% battery/electric means of energy storage and propulsion will be the only future solution, but it is important to understand the limitations that are holding back the large-scale deployment of electric cars and to understand the other propulsion options under consideration and how they compare in terms of feasibility and well-to-wheel emissions.

We will look at a wide range of options including petrol and diesel, how they work and how they have developed and improved over the years, the battery electric and what ‘zero emission’ means when you factor in power generation. We will also look at other options such as the fuel-cell electric vehicle for example, and the effects all these types of powertrain have on the environment we live in.

All over the news, you hear about climate change and we wanted to raise awareness about this concerning issue and also look at future advances.

 

How has the project impacted on your school and your community?

Raised awareness of the issue. Whole school involvement. All classes took part in Maint Cymru workshop, activities during ‘Wythnos Y Ddaear, litter picks and planting activities in the outdoor areas. Shared on social media e.g Instagram and school app to the wider community. Children have also been planting and growing their own plants at home because of their enjoyed during the project. Photos were shared during our Celebrating Success Assembly on a Friday morning. Furthermore, 10% of children now walk/cycle to school following the project as opposed to 3% previously, which is amazing!