Objectives
Students will:

create and conduct their own ground level ozone investigation; collect and analyze ozone data; compare student collected data against AIRNow data; and identify possible local sources of ground level ozone.

Materials

Computers with internet access AIRNow State Data Printer Ground level ozone testing materials, possibly including: Eco Badges ACCESS system Ozone Detector Card chemical testing paper rubber bands milkweed (late summer only) The focus of this lesson is for students to develop a ground level ozone sampling activity. Students will develop an investigation to measure the amounts of ground level ozone present in their area. Once data has been collected, the students will access the AIRNow web site and obtain near real-time data for the area (if available). The students will make comparisons between the student collected versus AIRNow data. Students will also be responsible to identify possible sources of NOx and VOCs, leading to the production of ground level ozone.Depending on available resources, students may use different sampling materials, or use similar materials but pursue differing methodologies. Overall, each student investigation will follow the same basic approach outlined below: Define the sampling objective. Describe the scientific question (hypothesis) the project is addressing. For example, if students are concerned about the level of ozone near their school, the sampling objective might be: If ozone is present and measured on the EPA AIRNow web site, the EcoBadge OR ACCESS system OR Ozone Detector Badge OR chemical testing paper OR rubber bands OR milkweed will detect the presence of ozone. Due to cool, cloudy, windy weather conditions, and limited sources of NOx and VOCs in the city or town upwind, we predict ozone levels will be low (AQI of 0 - 50). If ozone is present outside, we predict ozone measurements will be higher outside than inside of the school, when the windows are closed and measurements are not taken near copy machines or other potential indoor sources of ozone. If ozone is present outside, we predict ozone measurements will be roughly equal inside and outside of the school, when the windows are closed and measurements are not taken near copy machines or other potential indoor sources of ozone.   List the sampling parameters. In addition to ozone, each group needs to measure or obtain meteorological parameters including: temperature, relative humidity, wind direction and wind speed. If students are using the ACCESS system, meteorological data is measured by the system. Some schools might have on-site weather monitors that can be utilized. Otherwise, weather data can be obtained by accessing the Weather Underground.   Describe the method of data collection. Describe where the sampling equipment will be located, how long you will perform sampling, and whether the measurements (experiment) will be repeated in the same day.   Hints: If you are using the Ozone Detector Badge, a group may want to take five 10-minute readings during the class period and then "average" the results. Or, the students could take a measurement once per hour during the school day to see how the levels compare with the readings on the AIRNow web site, if available in your area.

Assessment
Each group should create and deliver a 15 minute presentation about the investigation they created and the data collected. Each presentation should contain the following information:

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