
Air Particle Levels Across Your Neighborhood
Easy
Does air pollution change depending on where you are and what day it is? You coat microscope slides with petroleum jelly and place them in different spots around your area. Some go indoors. Some go outdoors on window ledges or in open fields.
Leave all slides exposed for the same amount of time. Then compare them to control slides kept sealed in a drawer. Under a magnifying glass or microscope, you count the particles stuck to each slide.
The results show which locations collect the most airborne particles. You can also test whether weekdays differ from weekends.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that the level of air pollution will vary during the week.
Method & Materials
You will coat slides with petroleum jelly, label them with the location, and expose them for a certain length of time. Then, you will compare the exposed slides with the control slides to observe the amount of pollution.
You will need microscope slides, petroleum jelly, masking tape, and a magnifying glass or microscope.
Results
The results of this experiment showed that the level of air pollution does vary during the week. The slide with the highest particle count was placed outside of a school classroom. The likely source of this pollution was from traffic.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting and unique because it allows students to observe the amount of air pollution in their own city or residential area.
Also Consider
Experiment variations to consider include changing the length of time the slides are exposed and comparing the results of different locations.
Full project details
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