Something in the Air

Something in the Air

PDQ2

Gobble, gobble, gobble – pass the VOCs please!

Overview

Grades:
Time:
Subject:

5-8
5-10 minutes
Environmental Science

We are surrounded by invisible forces and substances – some are good, some are potentially bad!  Let’s take a deeper look into volatile organic compounds in our home, classroom, and workplace and see how we can clean a few things up!

Background

Indoor air quality can be affected by many factors – humidity, VOCs, poor ventilation, or temperature.  Staying healthy requires a balanced diet and exercise, but it also requires a healthy environment with clean air. In PDQ 1 we learned about the production of VOCs through evaporation, and we also hunted for sources of dangerous fumes. Now it’s time to investigate how to clean up the problems we might have discovered!

We have the ability to clean our air and make our homes, classrooms, and workplaces safer and healthier. Symptoms of poor indoor air quality include headaches, nausea, sore throat and more so let’s clean it up.  We can scrub our air, just like we scrub our floors, to keep our environments safer, cleaner, and healthier. We can do this with plants (Chrysanthemums rock clean air by the way), HVAC, and science. 

Let’s explore how to purify our air further with databot™!

What You'll Need

  • IOS or Android smart device with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to connect to databot™
  • databot™ + Phypox App installed on your IOS or Android device
  • Airtight container to hold databot™ and materials for testing
  • White Vinegar
  • Baking Soda
  • 2 – Plastic or Glass Containers – 1 Cup or 250 ml

Objectives

By completing this experiment and conducting the scientific observations associated with it you will master the following knowledge! Good luck science explorer!

  • Indoor air quality can affect your health and your ability to concentrate.
  • Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is:
    • An invisible and odorless gas.
    • Exhaled by human beings in the process of respiration.
    • Is maintained at a healthy level in buildings through well designed ventilation (HVAC) systems.
  • Excessive levels of humidity in your indoor air (above 60% RH) can stimulate microbial activity and contribute to poor air quality.
  • Volatile Organic Compounds are emitted by a variety of chemicals into the air and can have an adverse affect on your health.
  • You can make your home and work environment safer by understanding the sources of VOCs and reducing your exposure to them.
  • Scientific sensors allow us to measure the scientific world around us with better precision and accuracy.

Important Terms

Air Quality:  The levels of pollutants in your surrounding air determines your air quality.  High levels of pollution, dust, or smoke would be examples of poor air quality.

Baking Soda: Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃) is an alkaline salt, a base, that can absorb VOCs.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2): A colorless, odorless gas naturally present in the air you breathe and is absorbed by plants in photosynthesis. There would be no animal life or green plants without carbon dioxide. Green plants use energy from the sun plus carbon dioxide and water to produce carbohydrates and oxygen. 

Relative Humidity: Humidity refers to the amount of moisture in the air.  High levels of humidity indoors can contribute to microbial activity which can affect indoor air quality.

HVAC: Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) refers to the technology of maintaining clean and comfortable environmental conditions in buildings and vehicles.

Indoor Air Quality: The quality of the air inside and nearby buildings that includes humidity and gas levels.

Outgassing: Giving off or releasing gases such as from paint drying and curing.

Vinegar: A mixture of acetic acid (CH₃COOH) and water (H20) that gives off VOCs.

Volatile Organic Compounds: Chemicals that evaporate at room temperature and are emitted by substances like cleaners, paint thinner, and paints.  Levels that are too high can be harmful to your body and cause health problems.

Volume: The amount of space a substance takes up.

Prep (5 Mins)

This experiment builds on PDQ 1 in which you observed the outgassing of VOCs.  Now you will repeat this outgassing procedure but this time you will learn how to reverse the process!

  • Review the important terms.
  • Gather your materials.
  • Make sure your databot is fully charged.
  • Test your smart device connection and make sure you’ve installed the CO2 science experiments in Phyphox.
  • Your setup will be the same as in PDQ1 but this time have a cup of baking soda ready for phase 2 of the experiment.

Let’s go!

PDQ 2 (10 mins)

Procedure

  • Prepare 1 cup of baking soda and 1 cup of vinegar prior to the experiment.
  • Place your charged databot™ into your container along with an open cup of vinegar as in PDQ1.
  • Seal the container so it is airtight – you don’t want ventilation to interfere with your data readings.
  • Select the VOC sensor option from your Phyphox menu.
  • Connect to databot™ and activate the Phyphox recording feature.
  • Watch the data, when you are around 7,000 PPB in VOC concentration quickly remove the vinegar and replace it with a small cup of baking soda and re-seal your container.
  • As you swap vinegar for baking soda, you will ventilate the container somewhat, just like an HVAC system, and you should see a significant drop in VOC levels as shown in this image.  Let the data display stabilize.

Continued

  • Once the data display has stabilized again and you see a consistent decrease in VOCs occurring, stop your data recording, clear it, and begin again.   
  • You should see a consistent decrease in VOCs as the baking soda (NaHCO₃), a base, reacts with and  binds to the VOC, an acid, and absorbs it out of the air.  You are witnessing the air being scrubbed by science!!
  • Leave your experiment running and consider the following questions.

Deep Thoughts with databot™

  • What do you observe happening with the baking soda and the VOC levels?  
  • Is the change in VOC levels consistent and predictable?
  • How could baking soda help you keep your home or workspace safer?
  • Can you think of other ways that might help you make your indoor air quality safer?

Scrubbing the Air

In 1989 NASA, researching air quality for space station applications, conducted an indoor air quality study focused on identifying some of the best plants for purifying toxins from the air.   Remarkably, in addition to removing CO2 from the air and producing fresh oxygen,  our green friends are capable of doing some incredible cleaning for us as they gobble up certain VOCs. 

In a 1989 NASA study aloe vera was shown to remove benzene and formaldehyde toxins from the air.

With your new understanding of VOCs and how to clean the air, review your results from your VOC hunt conducted in PDQ 1.

 

  • Are there things you can do to improve your indoor air quality?
  • Can you add house plants, absorbing baking soda, or relocate certain substances and chemicals

Write up a short statement of how you think you can improve your air quality and prepare for the next experiment in which we will look for other contributors to poor indoor air quality – CO2 and high humidity!  Ready?  Let’s go!

Great Work!

Now that you’ve mastered PDQ 1 and 2, are you ready for a bigger bite? Next stop, the Experiment!

Next Step, an Experiment!

Go!

Educator Info

Educator Info

  • Study the background information in the Overview and familiarize yourself with the learning objectives and terms for this activity.
  • Test the VOC reading in your app and conduct the PDQ yourself before conducting it for your class.
  • Review the guiding questions to help guide the student experience.
  • If students have potential respiratory problems such as asthma be extra careful with the closed container experiment.

Understand:

  • Indoor air quality can affect your health and your ability to concentrate.
  • Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is:
    • An invisible and odorless gas.
    • Exhaled by human beings in the process of respiration.
    • Is maintained at a healthy level in buildings through well designed ventilation (HVAC) systems.
  • Excessive levels of humidity in your indoor air (above 60% RH) can stimulate microbial activity and contribute to poor air quality.
  • Volatile Organic Compounds are emitted by a variety of chemicals into the air and can have an adverse affect on your health.
  • You can make your home and work environment safer by understanding the sources of VOCs and reducing your exposure to them.
  • Scientific sensors allow us to measure the scientific world around us with better precision and accuracy.
something in the Air by Robert O. Grover & Team databot™ is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at databot.us.com/contact.