Teacher (Year 3) & Researcher (Public Health)
What made you choose air quality as your investigation topic?
Teacher: I became involved through our school’s science quality mark process. The research team sent out information, and air quality stood out to me because it felt relevant and achievable. Our STEM partner was brilliant – she works in public health at the council, so she brought this whole other dimension. She helped us realise the connection between planetary health and public health and air quality.
Researcher: I work across several roles-council, university lecturer in materials engineering, evaluation lead-so I was looking for something that bridged those worlds. Indoor air quality monitoring fit perfectly. I wanted to co-design everything with the teacher and children rather than arriving with a predetermined agenda.
How did you structure the activities?
Teacher: We did it in a couple of stages, so we kind of broadened it each time. They started by looking just in their classroom. We were able to compare different areas of the classroom-by the window, by the door, next to the desk. Then we eventually got to a point where the children were taking the air quality monitors to different places around the school to compare the air quality around the school with the classroom. We looked at lichens as well as natural air quality monitors because we’re a concrete jungle. We don’t have a field, there’s no grass, there’s not very many trees. So the children also don’t have very much access to that.
Researcher: I produced slide decks and sorting activities for the children and alongside the teacher, the teacher then turned these into laminated resource kits that they could spread amongst the school. The scientific process-designing a hypothesis, collecting data properly, analysing it, thinking about conclusions. But also-and this matters-considering your audience. How do you present this so it actually changes something? How does it affect human health and climate health around you?
What surprised you most?
Teacher: We had this moment where there was a fire at a nearby building and the air quality monitors were alarming. The children wrote down: there is a fire over the road. So we plotted the results and saw the anomalies-and they connected that to outdoor pollutants affecting indoor air quality. It wasn’t a lesson. It was real discovery happening in front of them.
Researcher: It felt collaborative. It felt natural. It felt like a learning environment. It felt like it was reflective. It was everything and more I hoped it to be. I recognised that she was an absolute specialist in terms of teaching and understanding the audience that is year 4 and she recognised that I was an expert in the room around research design methodology and climate science.
What have you taken from this experience?
Teacher: I’d probably run it again, but I’d want more time to deepen it even further. The momentum was there. Children would come in with questions; parents would ask about air quality at home. That tells you something is working.
Researcher: The co-design methodology, it brought a lot to my learning. I have my preconceived ideas of what I gave to them, but they certainly gave that opportunity to co-design and following that type of methodology, it brought a lot to my learning. This approach showcasing a journey through video rather than a report, I’ve now taken into other projects and other areas of my work entirely.
What happens next?
Teacher: It built my confidence a lot in the knowledge of the topic and being able to deliver that to children. On the strength of this project, I went to a climate conference at Sheffield Hallam, and I’ve unofficially taken on the role of eco ambassador at school. I’m planning climate literacy lessons for reception children next year-there’s literally nothing out there for that age group, so I’m creating it myself. The confidence this gave me… I wouldn’t have done that before.
Researcher: I’ve also offered out the lichen air quality monitoring to schools, so there’s regional reach for you. I delivered this in Rotherham and now I’ve proposed to move it to schools and handed them my pack of things to do at a Doncaster school.