Air Quality Lesson Plans for Teachers & Leaders of Children’s Groups

The Center for the Environment at Catawba College is pleased to announce that its Campaign for Clean Air website – www.campaignforcleanair.org – now offers free lesson plans and activities on air quality for leaders or teachers of children’s groups. While the plans and activities were initially designed for the middle school classroom, they can be used in Scout troops, library groups, Sunday School, Bible School or any other learning situation for elementary through high-school-age students.

These lessons, which meet several competency goals set by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, are part of a comprehensive No Idling Program that your group can adopt to actually reduce parent vehicle idling and improve air quality.

The activities include projects like experiencing how it feels to breathe on ozone alert days by breathing through a regular straw and then breathing through a straw the size of a coffee stirrer; using tube socks to test exhaust fumes from different kinds of vehicles; using The Lorax by Dr. Seuss as a springboard for discussing environmental issues.

 This toolkit has proved successful in pilot programs, and we are delighted that we can offer it to teachers and children’s leaders throughout the state.