Orientation for first-time visitors to Easy Breathers
Easy Breathers is a multimedia resource featuring a video and Web site designed to teach high school students (ages 13 and up) about the connection between transportation choices and air pollution. If you teach students younger than age 13, you might want to investigate the resources on EEK! (Environmental Education for Kids!), http://dnr.wi.gov/eek/, the DNR's Web site for kids aged 9 to 13.
- To educate high school students about the environmental costs of transportation.
- To inspire high school students to investigate air pollution and transportation issues.
- To show that wise choices can have a positive impact on the environment.
- To encourage high school students to analyze which transportation choices are best for them based on cost, availability, and environmental impact.
Research has shown that people form mobility habits and preferences early in life, such as driving a car instead of taking the bus, even in areas where there are reliable and convenient transit systems. These lifelong choices have created gridlock across the globe in many cities, and the impacts are very real:
- Six out of every ten Americans live in areas that violate federal air quality standards.
- More than 20 million Americans have asthma - five million are children.
- Asthma rates are increasing exponentially in many U.S. cities and also in rural areas.
- People aren't the only ones affected by air pollution - it's harmful to animals and plants, too. In fact, it's often more harmful to plants and animals than to people, since many are more sensitive to pollution.
- There are more than 220 million registered vehicles in the U.S. - way more than anywhere else in the world. With a population of over 280 million people (from newborns to senior citizens), that's a ratio of about one person per vehicle. With more than 700 million vehicles globally, and a world population of about 6.2 billion, the world ratio is about nine people per vehicle.
- Mobile sources (i.e., anything that moves and emits pollution) are responsible for a large chunk of the world's total air pollution. Compared to stationary pollution sources (like smokestacks), mobile sources of air pollution are difficult to regulate and the regulations are expensive to monitor and enforce. Individual choice can make a big difference in reducing these emissions.
One of the most unfortunate results is that in many areas the choices made by some people mean that others have no choice. That is, people drive cars and demand decent, safe roads on which to drive them. This costs money and takes up space, and overrides other options like transit systems that carry a greater number of people at less cost and significantly less environmental impact. With no transit system, or a limited transit system, people who cannot afford cars or who are unable to drive find it much harder to get around than those with cars do. It's a vicious circle.
Encouraging young people to take an active interest in the impacts of the choices that they make results in a more informed populace. Choosing to bike to school or work instead of drive has health benefits as well as environmental ones. In areas where transit, biking and walking to school/work aren't options, people still have the power to make good choices, like keeping their car in good running condition so that it pollutes as little as possible, and adopting new low-pollution or non-polluting technologies as they become available. Manufacturers of innovative technologies like the fuel cell and the hybrid car depend on savvy consumers to get their product into the marketplace.
And, of course, the students of today are the inventors of tomorrow. Being aware of these issues means that more students will become adults who take action and try to fix some of the problems.
Easy Breathers is a multidisciplinary resource. In the video and on the Web site you'll find activities, information, and research projects for high school students in history, science, writing, sociology, statistics, photography, theater, and many other subjects. Below is a synopsis of the site.
The Classroom (the main teacher-specific page that brought you here) has these regular features:
1. Classroom Activities
These are activities you can do in one or two class periods to investigate a particular concept or problem. Each activity is print-ready and references the primary national (U.S.) academic standards it meets. More will be added over time, so check back regularly.
2. Opportunities for students to contribute to Easy Breathers
Easy Breathers was produced by high school students in a project-based learning environment. The opportunity for students to continue to contribute to this project has been built into this Web site. Check out this section to learn more about how your students can get involved.
3. Getting involved in your community
This guide to Taking Action is full of ideas and suggestions for you and your students to make a difference in your own community.
4. The Teacher's Lounge
This nook in the Open Mic discussion forum is especially for teachers (although students registered in the forum have access to it as well). It allows you to post requests for collaboration, and read requests from other teachers - it's a resource for teachers to network with one another across the globe. Share project ideas, data, resources - anything. Get to the Teacher's Lounge by clicking on the link above, or clicking on the link called "Teacher's Lounge" on the main page of the The Classroom, or from the home page click on Engage, then Speak UP!, then Open Mic.
5. Suggested Reading/Resources
Here you'll find a list of books, articles, Web sites, and other resources used in writing most of the Easy Breathers sections.
As for the rest of the Easy Breathers site...
1. What is Easy Breathers?
This page is for the average visitor to the site, and is intended as a guide for students. To find out what we're telling your students about how they should navigate the site.
2. FAQ
For a quick tutorial on all things Easy Breathers, check out the Frequently Asked Questions page. Written for a general audience, it explains the what, why, where, and how of this project.
3. The Library
The Library link above takes you to a page where you can quickly access all the sections listed on the home page under "Explore." Here's where you'll find all the information resource files on the site. The main page of each section (i.e. "Air Pollution") is organized in outline format, where each topic is a link to information on that topic. Learn about criteria pollutants, hybrid cars, fuel cells, biodiesel, the health and economic impacts of air pollution, the finer points of car maintenance, and more.
4. The Lab
This is the data center - a place for you to find data that you need, or post data that your students have collected. Learn more about this section under Opportunities for Students to Contribute to Easy Breathers.
5. Speak UP!
This section features a discussion section and student writing, art, photography, projects, and reports. Read more about how you might incorporate this into your classroom under Opportunities for Students to Contribute to Easy Breathers.
6. What do you think?
Just below the center graphic on the home page is a poll/survey, titled "What do you think?". Sometimes the questions ask students how much they spend on gas (petrol) for the car in a week; sometimes they ask things like "do you think your city has an air pollution problem?". The answers to these poll questions give us a picture of students' car/bus/bike/transit use and knowledge of air pollution issues. This will help us measure the site's effectiveness over time at meeting our goals (above).
7. Get a Clue
Streaming interactive video allows students to watch a clip of the video and pick out the 'clue' embedded in the clip. The clues are air pollution and transportation related items that are hidden in the scene. For example, the clip might show some kids talking, next to a car. The dialogue makes no mention of gas caps, but when you look closely at the car, you notice it's missing its gas cap. The missing gas cap is the clue, because missing or loose gas caps are a major source of evaporative air pollution emissions. These little clues are hidden throughout the Easy Breathers video, and they've been snipped out and plopped into this game. Get a Clue makes the most sense if you've seen the entire Easy Breathers video, but give it a try regardless of whether or not you have.
8. Get the video
Although this site alone contains a lot of useful resources, the video is really intended to introduce these topics to you and your students. It's about 17 minutes long, plus it contains a special introduction to the Get A Clue game and a 3-minute Making Of Easy Breathers clip. There are no talking heads in this engaging video - it was created by students, for students. There is no charge for the video, but you have to send in your evaluation card after receiving and viewing the video! You'll find more information on the Get the video page.
9. The Making of Easy Breathers
If you're a theater/acting/drama or videography teacher, or are just interested in project-based learning, you'll love this section! The Making of Easy Breathers documents the process from concept to completion. Photos, video clips, draft scripts, class presentation notes, and other mementos are scattered throughout the account, which is organized in the form of a timeline. Get behind the scenes and see what really went into this production - or encourage your students to examine this section as they prepare their own related projects.
10. Everything else...
Poke around and you'll find...
- a lot more games in the Play category (on the home page),
- a Feedback form on the home page for your comments and suggestions,
- a Site Map on every page to guide you if you lose your way (on the home page it pops up when you click on Search), and
- a Search feature on every single page to help you find things.
If you have a question that the site just can't answer, visit the Contact Us page and call or email the project staff.
