STUDENT INVOLVEMENT IN TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS 

Good school IEQ is everyone’s responsibility: teachers, custodians, facilities staff, support staff, administrators, students, nurses, anyone who spends time in the building, as well as school policy makers and funders, including local taxpayers and school board and municipal officials.  Students are involved in creating school IEQ problems, so they should be involved in the process of learning how to prevent them.  Students in Environmental Science clubs and classes can conduct presentations on school IEQ for the school board or PTA groups.  Older students can be members of the TfS Team or they can perform community service projects by helping the TfS Team with data collection and/or mapping.  Information gathered from the TfS checklists can generate interdisciplinary class projects.  Students in all grades can take part in age-appropriate assemblies on how their actions affect the school’s (and their home’s) IAQ.  Both EPA and the National Education Association have developed lesson plans for incorporating IEQ into K-12 curricula.

 

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS 

Question: How have you involved students in your TfS program?

Answer:  One of the members of our high school’s Tools for Schools Team was the editor of the school newspaper.  He wrote an article for each edition of the paper describing what was going on to improve the school’s IAQ. 

RELATED LINKS

EPA Indoor Air Quality Student Project:

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/pdfs/webconferences/students/student_project.pdf

 

EPA IAQ Tools for Schools IAQ Curricula:

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/curricula.html

 

EPA Web Conference Summary- How to Involve Students in Your IAQ Program:

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/pdfs/webconferences/students/students_summary.pdf

 

National Education Association Health Information Network IAQ Lesson Plans:

http://www.neahin.org/Lesson_Plan/iaqlessonplanindex.html

 

National Education Association Health Information Network Recommended Educational Resources for K-12 Science and Health Teachers on Understanding the Indoor Environment:

http://www.neahin.org/Lesson_Plan/RecommendedEducationalResources.htm

 

Getting Students Involved in TfS

High School

• As a team member • Develop a database to compile data and track corrective actions Involve school environmental club, environmental science classes • Present program to school community – assembly, PTA

Middle School
• As a team member
• Compile data and map problems identified through math and computer classes
• Educate classmates about improving indoor environment in science or health classes
• Write letters to the school board about IEQ in the school

Elementary School
• Chart room temperatures
• Make posters to educate classmates about IEQ and how they can help improve the environment.
• Write letters to parents about the importance of good indoor environment in the school

Other Activities
• Earth Day Fairs
• Science Fairs
• Special Projects
• Advanced Classes
• “extra credit”

More Activities
• Collect data at home (Healthy Homes
checklist)
• Science experiments – test 2 vacuums for efficiency in picking up dust
• Comic book
• Illustrated IAQ manual
• In-school field trip (walkthrough)

Students will learn:
• Ecology (indoor environment)
• Pollution (indoor air quality)
• Microbiology (mold)
• Application of math and computer skills (developing spreadsheets, charting temperature, CO2 and humidity levels)

Learning
• Engineering and architecture (ventilation systems and building structure)
• Public speaking
• Writing presentation materials and reports.

What Teachers Can Do
• Incorporate IEQ elements into the curriculum:
• NEA-HIN lesson plans
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/scied
• K-12
• Topics: Intro to IEQ, Ventilation Basics, Vocabulary Development, Movement of Air, School Board Presentation, Identifying Indoor Pollution Sources

Benefits of Involving Students
• Makes them part of the process
• Varied roles possible
• Can adapt to grade level
• Students can educate each other more effectively
• Students have a unique voice & perspective and a strong interest in a healthy environment

East Valley H.S. Spokane WA
Value of student participation & ownership
in IAQ work:
“I have seen first hand the rippling effect it has when a young person encourages participation and good habits concerning indoor air quality. When I told my mom about my project she was interested to learn what I had learned. Over the next few days she came back from work with questions……and comments from other people she had talked to about my project. It was amazing. I had sparked interest in my community. It may seem strange to you to see a young person sincerely purse a technical,typically adult, boring issue but who better to get involved that the youth. We have creative potential; it only has to be inspired”.
E.V.H.S. Sophomore student

How Students Can Play a Role in the Implementation of TfS

High School

  • As a team member
  • Developing a database to compile data and track corrective actions through clubs such as math or computer.
  • Involve school environmental club, environmental science classes
  • Present program to school community – assembly, PTA
  • Write articles for the school newspaper/newsletter
  • Develop TfS webpage for school/district
  • Liaison to student government
  • Participate in presentation to the Board of Education 

 Middle School

  • As a team member
  • Compiling data and mapping problems identified through math and computer groups/ special projects/ advanced classes
  • Educate classmates about improving indoor environment in science or health classes
  • Write letters to the school board about IEQ in the school

Elementary School

  • Chart room temperatures
  • Make posters to educate classmates about IEQ and how they can help improve the environment.
  • Write letters to parents about the importance of good indoor environment in the school 

Other

  • Earth Day Fairs
  • Science Fairs

 

Students will learn: ecology (indoor environment); pollution (indoor air quality); microbiology (mold); application of math and computer skills (developing spreadsheets, charting temperature, CO2 and humidity levels); engineering and architecture (ventilation systems and building structure); public speaking and preparing presentation materials and reports.