Educator's Guide To "Air: The Search for One Clean Breath"
Since its premiere in 2008, the VCAPCD film "Air: The Search for One Clean Breath" has been screened worldwide for hundreds of thousands of viewers. The district also directed the development of a guide for middle and high school teachers to increase the film’s reach and educate students about this precious natural resource. It was coordinated by the California Regional Environmental Education Community and written and field-tested by state teachers, including some from Ventura County.
The guide and accompanying classroom lessons expand on the material presented in the film. Activities range from students creating ice core samples to a Socratic method exercise about global warming. Projects focused on climate, alternative energy and transportation, and air quality's impact on health also are featured.
The Lessons
The guide contains nine lessons that met California Educational Standards and Frameworks and some national educational standards when it was completed in 2008.
NOTE: All the lessons can be taught independently. However, to maximize the educational benefits for students, we recommend viewing the film if possible.
The Introduction contains a matrix of California and national educational standards that correspond with the lessons.
These are the nine lessons for grades six through 12:
Commuter Match & Math — Students learn about vehicle types and the carbon dioxide emissions they produce. Then, they test their knowledge with a classroom commuter activity.
Taking Action — Students develop an action project to promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Analyzing Energy — Students analyze the advantages and disadvantages associated with various energy sources: coal, natural gas, hydrogen, geothermal, hydropower, oil, solar and wind power, and nuclear energy.
Where Does Our Pollution Go? — Students use maps showing global air currents to trace the movement of pollutants around the globe, showing how one city’s pollution can affect the lives of others around the world.
Our Energy Diet — Students use graphs to explore the population of various countries and their oil consumption. They then determine ways to reduce energy consumption and their own impact on the environment.
Effects of Global Warming — Students read information on climate change and its effects on hurricanes, wildfires, animal populations, human health and allergies, and sea levels. They will fill in a graphic organizer and present information to the class in groups. Afterward, each group will do an analysis or the causes, implications and solutions to the eight different effects of global warming discussed in the articles.
Carbon Dioxide in Ice Core Samples — Students make scientifically based observations with frozen ice cores and collect, quantify, chart and analyze data.
Air Pollution Tragedy: A Case Study — Students review historic accounts of Belgium’s Meuse Valley air tragedy to build awareness that many disciplines of study and areas of interest can contribute to solving a public problem.
Navigating Opinion in Search of Facts — Students use the Socratic method to investigate global climate change.
Instructor Comments
“Lesson content – excellent. Ease of delivery – excellent. . . students want to know what they and society can do to make changes.”
-Diana Petropulos, Santa Paula High School
“Discussion information connected well with Standard F – Environmental Quality, Human induced hazards. . . the content is important and is covered in our general 9th grade physical science.”
-Lorraine Wood-Newbury, Rio Mesa High School
“Overall the lesson was excellent as regards content, supporting materials, ease of delivery, and grade/subject appropriateness. The students felt they learned a great deal. . .”
-Mark Schmidt, Ventura High School
”The lessons were straightforward and grade appropriate. All of my students seemed confident that they would see a significant shift away from fossil fuels in their lifetime.”
-John Forte, Atascadero High School
“The lesson content was excellent. It fits in perfectly with ecology and meets state standards. The students made a clear connection between the activities and the film. What is nice about the film and activities is that you can also present them independently from each other.”
-Nathan Inouye, Adolfo Camarillo High School
“The movie is great, and the experiment with warm and cold water was a great visual! The standards tied in perfectly with the lesson.”
-Josh Rubin, Woodside High School, Woodside CA
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