Air Pollution Experiment
Lab Idea: Students will learn the different variables that lead to increased air pollution, and
would also be able to identify whether more particulate matter is outside or inside based on the
areas they choose.
Question: Is there more particulate matter inside or outside?
Hypothesis: Students would hypothesize whether there is more particulate matter outside or
inside and based on the areas they choose which contain the most air pollution.
Materials:
Index Cards
Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline)
Tape (Duct or Masking)
Butter knife
Microscope/Magnifying Lens
Procedure:
1. Divide students up into groups of 3 or 4 at a time.
2. Tell these groups to decide which area they would want to test their experiment in, have
each group test some inside and some outside to compare the particulate matter.
(Examples: Hallways, Walls near classrooms, A tree outside of the school, and etc.
(Advise them to use multiple index cards to increase the accuracy of the data and to
prevent loss of data).
3. Now each student in the group will create their own tool that will be used to identify the
amount of particulate matter in general.
4. They will do so by getting an index card and labeling with the location they would want
to experiment on in the back
5. The students will smear the petroleum jelly (Vaseline) with the knife onto the front of the
index card. This is a very good data collection tool due to the fact that the air particles
will stick to the jelly and with the aid of a microscope the groups of students would be
able to tell how much particulate matter ended up in each of the index cards.
6. After the index card with petroleum jelly has been created students should make
observations of this tool and how it looks before the experiment. They should make an
hypothesis on whether there is more particulate matter inside or outside which would
indicate where is there more air pollution
7. After they make these observations and hypothesis, the students will then use the tape to
stick the index cards in their designated areas they decided to experiment on.
8. The groups of students should wait approximately 2-3 days before retrieving their index
cards for better results.
9. Finally after the groups of students have retrieved their index cards they should now
make observations and discuss which areas contain more particulate matter under the
microscope and whether these areas were inside or outside to determine which areas
contain the most air pollution.
10. These groups should write down their observations in a journal and take their
observations and data into account when finalizing and writing the analysis and
conclusion.
Analysis: (Data)
This would contain the observations the students collected over the experiment by observing
how the petroleum jelly looked before being placed in these certain areas over time.
Conclusion:
This would be the final say with all of the data and observations taken into account, this would
determine whether there is more particulate matter inside or outside based on the various places
that the groups of students placed their index cards. It would also contain the final say on how
much particulate matter ended up on the petroleum jelly in some places than others.
Questions:
1. Was there a greater amount of particulate matter on the areas outside or inside which
were chosen to experiment on?
2. Were there any similarities in the amount of particulate matter found in these areas
3. Were there any vast differences in the amount of particulate matter found in these areas
4. Now that you have observed the different amounts of particulate matter in the various
areas, do you as students have ideas that could reduce the amount of particulate matter
based on your observations?
Works Cited
"Air Quality Lab." AP Environmental Science Labs. Web. 12 May 2015.
"Air Particles and Air Quality." Air Particles and Air Quality. Web. 12 May 2015.
