Detecting Air Pollution - Particulates in Your Neighbourhood

2.On your index card, draw a square 2 cm by 2 cm. Divide this square into a grid of smaller squares, each 0.5 cm by 0.5 cm.

3.Above or underneath this square, write a brief message for anyone who comes across your particulate collector. For example: "Please do not disturb. Air pollution experiment."

4. Punch a hole in the card and thread it with string.

5.Using a clean finger or a toothpick, smear a thin, even layer of petroleum jelly over the square. OR you can arrive at the site where you are going to place your particulate collector, and smear the petroleum jelly there. If you do it beforehand, it is important to put the collector in a small box so it doesn't get contaminated before you place it in the community.

6.Using the string, masking tape and/or push pins, secure the particulate collector to a surface.

7.On the day you place your collectors, fill in the data below for each collector:

Collector #:
Site of placement:
Description or address of location
Wind condition today (direction):
Sticky side facing (direction):
Height above ground:
Possible pollution sources:

8.You can decide how long your collectors should be left out. On the day you bring them back home, make some observations on what you have collected:
a) Can you identify any of the particles?
b) Where did the particles come from?
c) Is the pollution low or high?
Use this scale to decide:
NONE - no particulates
LOW - 15 - 20 particles on the square
MODERATE - 30 - 40 particles
HEAVY - over 100 particles

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