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AirWatch News - Edition 2 - November 2005Welcome to the second edition of AirWatch News. AirWatch News is a newsletter that provides teachers and students with information and updates on AirWatch activities and initiatives. AirWatch News also highlights resources to assist in the teaching of local and global air quality and sustainability issues such as eco-footprint. Eltham Wood smoke project
Monitoring was conducted from late April to September, and MoLab II was located in the grounds of Eltham East Primary School. Visit the EPA website to view the information collected by MoLab II and other EPA monitoring stations.
Eco'tudeThis is a great new website from the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney that enables you to focus on your school's ecological attitude. It contains a calculator to work out a school's ecological footprint or impact on the environment, and lots of support material. There is a workbook and information about conducting audits. Often people suggest undertaking an audit, but it is important to be clear about what is being measured. It is also important for each community to decide where to begin, as every community is different. On this website the leaky tap and the illumination audits are clear and provide results that can be collated and acted upon. School incursion program
The AirWatch team has been busy over the past two terms conducting student incursions and teacher professional development in schools. The student incursions have been tailored to meet the requirements of the schools and to fit with the ages and understandings of the students. The Wheel of Sustainability game is a fun aspect of the incursion program. For students who haven't yet focussed on the environment, it is a good introduction, and many teachers focussed on the environment have commented that it is a good vehicle for revisiting issues that have been covered in class. The Wheel of Sustainability is a team game and some groups have shown that they can be extremely competitive! Hundreds of primary students from both rural and city schools have played the game over the past two terms.
Energy efficient houses
After a term of investigating energy, the Year 5 and 6 students at Sherbourne Primary School designed and constructed models of their own energy efficient and sustainable houses. On a recent visit to the school, the AirWatch team was amazed at the ingenuity and creativity displayed in many of the house models on display in the library and along the corridors of the school. One outstanding energy efficient sustainable house model caught our eye. Year 5 student Daniel Seymour spent 30 hours designing and constructing his house (with advice and assistance from his dad). Outside features included wind mill, greywater tank, rainwater tank, solar panel on the roof, evaporative air cooler, solar hot water system, solar heating coils for the pool, sky lights, greenhouse, vegetable garden, compost bins and swimming pool with a solar blanket. The roof space included a layer of insulation made out of cotton wool. Inside features included hot water heating unit, dual flush toilet, energy efficient lighting, double glazing on the windows and curtains. The roof of the house featured wide eaves for maximum shading in summer. Daniel's model also included powered working components – the windmill and inside lighting were wired to a set of batteries housed next to the recycle bins. Teachers at Sherbourne Primary School commented that their students embarked on their projects with great enthusiasm. It was seen as a fitting activity to draw on concepts they had learnt about during the energy and sustainability unit of work. World Environment Day activityDuring the school week following World Environment Day (5 June) students participated in a daily Snapshot of Visual Air Quality (VAQ). VAQ assessment is easy to do because there is no need for expensive equipment – all you need is your eyesight and an elevated position from which to view landmarks of varying distances. Although a subjective measurement, VAQ assessment gives an indication of visibility that can be correlated with EPA's air quality rating. Coupled with their own weather station data, students suggest reasons why air visibility can vary throughout the day, from day to day, and season to season. Linking VAQ to weather and the source of air pollutants affecting visibility is an important part of this activity. Thanks to the schools who sent weather and VAQ data, and photos of their study to the AirWatch team. The following schools received a light meter for their efforts:
Swan Hill North Primary School students sent a report (Adobe PDF file, 92KB) to AirWatch regarding their local VAQ. Science Week activityThanks to all of the schools that responded so promptly and enthusiastically to the offer of a light meter to conduct an illumination audit during National Science Week. AirWatch received some excellent reports from a range of schools – primary, secondary, rural, city, small and large. It was very pleasing to receive feedback from a number of teachers about the merits of this activity and its relevance to the theme of Science Week 2005 – Energy: Future Challenges. One of the key challenges we face in Victoria is to reduce our reliance on energy from the burning of brown coal. If we can find ways to reduce our electricity consumption then our impact on the environment will also be reduced. Ensuring appropriate lighting levels at home, at school and in the workplace is one simple way we can all reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our impact on the environment. In summary, every participating school completed the task of measuring the lux readings of each room at their school. Some schools also included a comparison of light levels at different times of the day. An important part of the report was the discussion of whether lighting in each room was appropriate for the activity taking place – this also included commenting on light levels when a room is not in use. Schools scored highly if they were able to suggest practical ways that light levels could increase or decrease to meet the recommended levels for different activities and to also come up with promotional strategies. In summary the findings from this activity were:
Here are examples of the work received by the AirWatch team:
An interesting comment from the Mt Pleasant Primary School team about an over-lit classroom highlighted the difficulty in getting adults to change their behaviours. This was also mentioned by other groups. The AirWatch team is very pleased to announce that the report received from Swan Hill North Primary School was judged the best and for their efforts they receive a wireless electricity monitor. The monitor is a tool that schools can use to measure the cost of electricity usage and the amount of greenhouse gases generated. The Swan Hill North Primary School audit was very detailed and also noted weather conditions at the time of the audit. As well as their audit report, action plan and posters, they included poems, interesting facts and further questions that they'd like to investigate. One particularly pertinent fact was that they have 570 fluorescent lights in their school! Congratulations must go to the following three schools for their highly commended reports:
Commonwealth Games CD
The second activity, Mobility Footprint, looks at travelling to the Games and allows students to calculate their mobility footprint, a component of their ecological footprint. Visit the Education website for the Commonwealth Games at http://education.melbourne2006.com.au to view the extensive range of school resources and activities for students. Topics for discussionThe Environment Victoria media releases are a good source for discussion topics. It is crucial to highlight the complexity of all environmental issues and using these media releases as a starting point for discussion will encourage students to see the many sides of issues. Some of the issues highlighted are:
Students could take turns to check the website and be responsible for summarising information for discussion. McAdam Square Streetlife ProgramLuther College at Croydon North was invited to participate in the McAdam Square Streetlife Program, an innovative environmental research project funded by Maroondah City Council. The aim of the project was for students to investigate environmental issues of concern to traders at the shopping precinct. Students from two Year 10 Geography classes investigated six areas of the environment that were highlighted as important by traders:
AirWatch provided advice and support for the students investigating air quality. The students investigated air quality at McAdam Square from a number of angles. Located opposite two schools on a busy road, the shopping precinct car park was often congested during the school drop-off or pick-up time. What impact does this have on local air quality and on safety were some of the questions investigated. A common feeling by some traders and customers was that the ambience of the shopping precinct was affected by cooking odours and chimney emissions coming from some of the food businesses. The students investigated whether odour problems were more pronounced at certain times of the day/week and if there were other factors that influenced odour intensity. Students interviewed traders and shoppers to learn about community attitudes to air quality around the shopping precinct. The completion of the program was celebrated at the end of Term 3 when students presented their research projects at Luther College to everyone involved with the project. Some key recommendations or actions made by the students were:
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One of the EPA Mobile Air Monitoring Stations, MoLab II has been measuring the impact of smoke from solid fuel heaters on air quality in the Eltham area. The contribution of wood smoke to the fine particle levels measured will also be determined in a collaborative study with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). The Port Phillip Region Air Emissions Inventory has identified the Eltham area as having the highest source of 
The AirWatch team has contributed two activities to a CD that has been compiled for the Commonwealth Games. The CD is full of activities and resources, and will be mailed to all schools. One of the activities is a snakes and ladders style game – Going Gold for the Environment. The game highlights sustainable transport choices and behaviours.
