As constant air monitoring is handled in Strathcona County by two local groups, students are set to get more insight into the air they breathe.
Strathcona County is divided into two airsheds, with the Alberta Capital Airshed (ACA) managing air quality monitoring stations in Ardrossan and Sherwood Park, while the Fort Air Partnership (FAP) has a station in Elk Island, as well as in areas just north of Strathcona County, such as Fort Saskatchewan and Bruderheim.
While constant air monitoring efforts continue, both organizations are now hoping to spread their work to a younger audience.
“We just started a school tours program a year ago, so we’re planning to expand that,” said Nadine Blaney, executive director of FAP.
Additionally, ACA executive director Gary Redmond said the group has already started working with local facilities to raise student awareness — while also potentially bringing certain messages to parents.
The CARS program — Clean Air Responsible Schools — involves a partnership between the ACA and an educational group called Inside Education.
Using handheld air quality monitoring devices, students can see what they’re breathing in as they walk around the school yard.
“It started in one school here in Sherwood Park, and it’s going to have a lot more in the fall,” Redmond said.
He explained the program includes professional development for teachers, as well as an in-classroom presentation. The program, he noted, has been well-suited to youth around Grade 5.
That’s where the youth become the teachers.
While the handheld devices “don’t take the place of continual or passive monitoring,” Redmond explained they provide adults, too, with an opportunity to get involved in the science of air quality monitoring.
“There is very much a growing interest for people, they want to have science in their hands,” he explained.
Currently, devices are being used by the University of Alberta and MacEwan University students, while residents can borrow the system from the Edmonton Public Library, and Inside Education continues to use them, as well.
While the devices only monitor air quality levels directly adjacent to the user, Redmond said they could one day take on a bigger role.