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The Living Classroom: Understanding the Effects of Plants on Indoor Air Quality

School:: Mainland High School
Subject:: Science
Teacher:: Lynn Boutwell
Students Impacted:: 165
Grade:: 9-12
Date:: August 31, 2024

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

FUTURES Foundation - $392.00

Goal

Students will collect data on indoor air quality to determine how indoor plants may or may not change the quality of indoor air.

What will be done with my students

Students will be monitoring classroom air quality for CO2 and VOC's using an electronic tester to determine the effects plants have on air quality indoors. The plants selected for this six-month study were chosen by NASA for improving air quality on the International Space Station. Plant light requirements have also been considered, so that plants can be clustered around the room in low light areas. Some of the plants chosen are Parlor palms, Peace lilies, Rubber tree and Sansevieria. SC.912.N.1.1 Through the process of this investigation and the use of an electronic monitor, students design an investigation and collect and analyze data, and draw conclusions. In Identifying what is science, SC.912.N.2.1, they will determine if claims of plants cleaning air are real or pseudoscientific. In SC.912.L.17.10 and SC.912.E.7.1 Students will learn the connection between plants and atmosphere in the biogeochemical cycles of an ecosystem, including water, carbon, and nitrogen cycle, and movement of matter and energy through different biogeochemical cycles including water and carbon. The largest impact will be in SC.912.L.17.16, discussing the large-scale environmental impacts resulting from human activity, both primary and secondary air pollutants and explain how they can affect human and environmental health, such as carbon monoxide and VOCs.

Benefits to my students

This is a multi-unit lesson that spans many months. It starts with benchmarks from week 5 and will go through the last units of the year. As they learn through this class investigation, they will be processing the implications throughout the year. Elements of the investigation will provide early previews of the benchmarks and provide cursory understanding of concepts before each unit.

Budget Narrative

This investigation requires only plants and a monitor.

Items

#	Item	Cost
1	EG Air Monitor	$113.00
2	Parlor Palm trees, 2@ $30	$60.00
3	Fiddle Leaf fig or Rubber tree (2) $45	$90.00
4	ZZ Plant (3) $33	$99.00
5	Peace lily (1)	$30.00
	Total:	$392.00