Megan, Lewis and Rachel (from Essex County Council) visited our school to talk to us about air quality and pollution. Rachel became ‘Doctor Rosemary Ayre’, and she had a workshop/ laboratory in her garden shed. She told us what air is made up from: Nitrogen, Oxygen, and small amounts of other gases like carbon dioxide. Furthermore, air sometimes contains other things such as: Nitrogen Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Sulphur Dioxide and Particulate Matter. All of these things shouldn’t really be in our air, and are pollution. Theo, Emma, Molly, Logan and Lucas were chosen to ‘use tongs to clean up the air’ (move balls from one basket to another). The point was that everyone did a little bit, and together they made a difference. Together they managed to clean the air. 

There was a scale of different pollutants for children to organise from least polluting to most polluting. Children found out that 1. Walking was least polluting. Then 2. LED lighting was still not very polluting. 3. Planes were slightly more polluting. 4. Factories were more polluting. 5. Traffic was the most polluting of all. It accounts for 70% of all air pollution.

Children were encouraged to walk to school where they can, and walk when they can, rather than taking a car to go to places, although the crew did recognise that we do live in a rural area so sometimes we need to drive. 

All in all it was an excellent show and we really enjoyed it. We were able to talk about the things we have been learning about Sustainability and Food Miles so it was nice to add our prior knowledge.