One of my favorite resources for teaching air pollution is a short video that can be found on PBSKids EekoWorld under the “Air” tab. The content follows this basic outline:
- Basic facts about air
- Harmful effects of dirty air
- Health problems: burning eyes, trouble breathing (asthma), itchy throat
- Global warming
- Effects on plants
- Effects on buildings and statues
- Sources of dirty air
- Cars and trucks
- Factories that burn fossil fuels to create electricity
- Factories that create the things we buy
- Solutions to keep the air clean
- Ways to travel that don’t create pollution (walk, bike, carpool, bus)
- Emissions testing and reducing idling in cars
- Saving electricity and using renewable power (solar electricity)
Tending Our Common Ground 