Air Quality & Your School’s Project. What do we mean by Air Quality? Air Quality means whether the air is clean or dirty If our air is clean it would.

Air QualityAir Quality&

Your School’s Project

What do we mean by Air Quality?

• Air Quality means whether the air is clean or dirty

• If our air is clean it would mean that we would have good air quality

• If our air is dirty we call it ‘polluted air’ and our air quality would be poor

How does the air get dirty?

• The main reason for dirty air in Doncaster is transport.

• The fuels vehicles use (petrol & diesel)• When petrol and diesel are burned in an

engine it causes a chemical reaction. This results in polluting gases being produced.

• These polluting gases come out of the car exhaust and cause poor air quality.

The Bad Gases• The air is made up of a mixture

of gases, including oxygen.• Polluting gases also make up

part of our air, although it is only a small amount.

• When there are too many polluting gases in the air it can be harmful for us.

• These gases are mainly carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide.

• www.doncaster.gov.uk\pollution

The Air Quality Index

What is the air made up of?

Nitrogen - 78.09%

Oxygen - 20.95%

Argon - 0.93%

Carbon Dioxide - 0.03%

Other trace gases - 0.003%

Polluting Gases

• Nitrogen Dioxide: mainly produced from road transport emissions and other combustion processes such as the electricity supply industry.

• Sulphur dioxide: is produced when a material, or fuel, containing sulphur is burned. Globally, much of the sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere comes from natural sources (like Volcanoes), but in the UK the main source are fossil fuel burning power stations

• Fine Particles (PM10): is produced mainly from road traffic.• Carbon Monoxide: is a colourless, odourless poisonous gas

produced by incomplete combustion of fuel. It is mainly produced by road transport, in particular petrol-engine vehicles.

Health Diagram

How Do We Measure Pollution?

• In Doncaster we have 6 automatic, real time sites.

• There are also over 50 diffusion tubes around the Borough.

Your School’s Project

• Your school is taking part in an air quality project.

• There will be 3 diffusion tubes put up around your school.

• Where do you think that the diffusion tubes should be located?

• Think about how we could prove where and why the air is dirty.– Is there a busy road?– Is there a factory?

AIR QUALITY

Diffusion Tube Project

Apparatus: Diffusion Tubes Plastic Ties Plastic Holders Rubber Washers Step ladder / tube grabber Can you draw some of the equipment used?

Diffusion Tube Washer

Plastic Holder

Plastic Tie

AQMAs• We have 4 areas in Doncaster that have high

pollution.• These areas are called ‘Air Quality

Management Areas’ or AQMAs for short.• Doncaster’s AQMAs are all located around

the busy roads leading into the town centre.• All of our AQMAs were declared for

nitrogen dioxide.• We have to try clean up the air in these

places.

Doncaster’s AQMAs

What can we do?

• Walk or cycle short distances, this doesn’t produce any air pollution.

• Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

• Don’t waste electricity, always turn the lights off when you leave a room

• Use energy efficient light bulbs

What can we do?

• Why not think of a project that you and your class could enjoy together?

• You could organise a litter pick around your local area?

• What about helping to plant some trees?

• Doing one thing to help the environment can have beneficial effects on lots of other areas too.

Role Play• A developer wants to build a

big housing development in an AQMA

• This will result in 150 new homes

• The roads in this area always have queuing traffic on them in the rush hours

• Nearby residents are fed up with the current traffic problems and the air quality

Work in groups on your tables! Here are some questions to consider:

• Why do different individuals have different opinions?

• What problems could be caused if the development were to be built?

• What benefits would the development have on the area if it were to be built?

Finally:• Should the council allow the

development to go ahead?

Housing Development in Anytown

N W E S

High Street

Police Station

Row of shops

Power Station

Supermarket

Town Activity: Anytown Development

Hospital

Fire Station

Offices

Bus Station

Tra

in S

tatio

n

Shopping Centre

Pa

rk L

ane

Park Avenue

Wood Lane

Po

we

r S

tatio

n R

oad

Sta

tion

Ro

ad

Station Street

Row of shops

Offices Offices

Offices

Park and Playground

Shop

Houses

Houses

Business Park Avenue

We

st S

tre

et

Ne

w L

ane

Po

pp

y L

ane

Oa

k A

ven

ue

Houses

Wind Direction: From the South East

Quarry Road

Bramble Way

Air Quality Management Area

Role Play• Mr Developer wants to build in Anytown.

• Mr Resident lives on Park Ave and works at the hospital. He doesn’t want the new houses.

• The Shopping Centre doesn’t want the development.• The Supermarket Owner does want the development.• Aunty Polly doesn’t want the new houses. She lives

on Bramble Way.• Dr Mendy is in favour of the new houses. He works at

the hospital.

• The Council Planner (you) must decide – should the development be built or not?

In Summary• The air we breathe is essential to all life but

because of human activity we are making the air polluted

• Doncaster Council have to measure air pollution and try and find ways to improve our air quality

• Your school will also be undertaking some air quality monitoring

• Everyone can do a little bit to help prevent air pollution – you and your class could decide what you will do today to help the environment.

• www.doncaster.gov.uk/airq