An Investigation on Air Quality
in Houston
Purpose
The purpose of this project is to educate the students on
the poor quality of air in Houston.
Description
This module is designed to inform students on the effect of
ozone in their city of residenceóHouston.
The project is intended for students to do research on ozone and identify
factors which contribute to ozone in Houston.
Thus, they will be exposed to a variety of computational science tools
which will enhance their technology skills.
In addition,
students will make connections between the sciences and mathematics.
Background
Ozone is a gas which occurs when three oxygen atoms are
combined. It exists in the troposphere above earth or at ground level.
There are two types of ozone ìgood ì ozone and ìbad ì ozone.
Both types of ozone are harmful to human health.
However, ozone at ground level is terribly unhealthy for citizens.
The troposphere is a layer which extends approximately 10
miles above the earthís surface. The
stratosphere shields the earth from the sunís ultraviolet rays.
It extends between 10 to 30 miles above the earths surface.
The troposphere also known as ground level ozone is considered bad
because the environment is at risk. This
bad ozone is largely created by pollution in the air due to a consumption of
aerosols, emissions systems, etc. The
good ozone occurs at the stratospheric level which is produced and destroyed at
a constant rate. This type of ozone
also affects the environment except that it gradually affects us by taking a
little longer to reach us.
Objectives
The students
willÖ
- explain
ozone.
- distinguish
the differences between ìgoodî and ìbadî ozone.
- collect
data which affects ozone.
- analyze
data to determine patterns and relationships.
- manipulate
data to develop a regression equation.
- predict
outcomes from a set of data.
- realize
their contributions to the environment.
- recommend
improvements for air quality.
- make
connections between activities and their lives.
Activities
Smog City
AQI Calculator
Applet
Interface
Graphing with Excel
NCTM Standards
Texas
Essential Knowledge and Skills
112.44 Environmental Systems
b.1, b.2, b.3, c.1.A, c.1.B, c.1.C, c.1.D, c.3
111.34 Algebra II
b.1.A, b.1.B, b.2
111.35 PreCalculus
c.3.A, c.3.B, c.3.C
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