Cleaning Our Air
Students discover how air filters trap particles, learn why ventilation brings in fresh air, build their own simple box fan filter, and evaluate what works best to keep our air clean.
4
Lessons
5
Class Periods
Med
Materials Cost
3
NGSS Standards
Essential Question
What are the best ways to keep our indoor air clean and healthy?
Lessons
Key Concepts
Filtration
- Filters trap particles in tiny holes
- Smaller holes catch smaller particles
- HEPA filters catch 99.97% of particles
- Filters need to be replaced
Ventilation
- Brings fresh outdoor air in
- Pushes stale indoor air out
- Dilutes pollutants and germs
- Open windows help!
DIY Air Cleaners
- Box fan + filter = simple air cleaner
- Inexpensive and effective
- Called "Corsi-Rosenthal Box"
- Anyone can build one!
Clean Air Strategy
- Multiple methods work best
- Filter + ventilation together
- Reduce sources of pollution
- Monitor to check if it's working
Standards Alignment
| Standard | Description |
|---|---|
| 3-5-ETS1-2 | Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem |
| 5-PS1-1 | Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen |
| 4.OA.A.3 | Solve multistep word problems posed with whole numbers using the four operations |