The AQEarth Project
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In AQEarth, we work with communities to elevate and address their air quality needs with next generation technology. The project offers local air monitoring (mobile and fixed site equipment) with a range of supporting services including educational and public outreach efforts for a year.
Visit the AQEarth website to find out more! |
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AQTreks
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In AQTreks, students use our Personal Air Monitor (PAM) to measure air pollutants along mobile "Treks" of their design. The PAM wirelessly connects to mobile phones, and Treks are displayed in real-time on the AQTreks smartphone application. Each Trek is automatically uploaded via WiFi or 3G to the web for online analysis, discussion, and comparison with other schools. 2B Technologies has created an AQTreks curriculum available to teachers. Contact us if you are interested!
AQTreks began in classrooms in Fall of 2017. In its initial year, AQTreks reached over 6,600 students across the US.
Unfortunately, we cannot support AQTreks in any countries besides the United States at this time.
AQTreks began in classrooms in Fall of 2017. In its initial year, AQTreks reached over 6,600 students across the US.
Unfortunately, we cannot support AQTreks in any countries besides the United States at this time.
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Past Projects
In the first several years of the GO3 Project, students at more than 100 schools in 25 countries around the world measured air pollutants and uploaded their data to a public database for graphing and display on Google Earth. Ground-level ozone was measured in the Global Ozone Project, black carbon or "soot" was measured in the Black Carbon Experiment, and the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide was measured in the CO2 Experiment. In the GO3 Treks project, students carried out "treks" of their own design to test hypotheses about sources and distributions of the primary pollutant black carbon and the secondary pollutant ozone. Together, GO3 students learned and practiced the science of atmospheric chemistry, built the world's first citizen database for air pollutants, and proposed solutions to global environmental problems.
Although ozone in the stratosphere protects us from harmful UV rays from the sun, ozone at ground level causes serious health effects such as asthma and damages crops and ecosystems. Ground-level ozone is formed in the atmosphere in the interaction of sunlight with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emitted by automobiles and industrial processes. Because of its toxicity, ozone is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency as one of six Criteria Air Pollutants.
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Black carbon or "soot" is the second leading cause of global warming and is estimated to be responsible for ~20% of the global warming and ~40% of glacier melting that has occurred to date. Because black carbon remains in the atmosphere for only about two weeks on average, control of black carbon emissions has been identified as the most cost effective way for slowing climate change in the near future. Black carbon also has serious health effects, including asthma and lung cancer.
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Carbon dioxide, the product of combustion of all biomass and fossil fuels, is the most important greenhouse gas. Average carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have increased from 280 ppm to more than 400 ppm over the past century and are expected to double within a few decades. There is now a consensus among atmospheric and climate scientists that these increased levels of carbon dioxide have already begun to result in climate change with increases in surface temperatures and extensive glacier melting.
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In this exciting project, students around the world used personal monitors to measure the primary pollutant black carbon and the secondary pollutant ozone along "treks" they designed and carried out. Based on the provided curriculum, students formed and tested their own hypotheses about where these two pollutants are expected to have high and low concentrations. The treks were displayed on Google Earth in a blog format where students discussed their results with other students, teachers, and scientists around the world.
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