Harvest Collegiate High School

This grant aims to enhance students' understanding of PM2.5's health impacts by involving them in constructing and testing DIY low-cost air quality sensors and using them to measure air quality in their community. In the first year, approximately 100 students will directly benefit from hands-on experience in building and testing sensors, while an additional 300 members of the HCHS community will indirectly benefit from the research findings and data.

With the grant, students will construct two types of DIY small sensors, including the STELLA-AQ, developed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, for intercomparisons with commercially available low-cost small sensors like the Davis AirLink. This initiative will allow students to design and conduct various research projects, such as examining the spatial variability of PM2.5 or comparing measurements from different instruments. The results will be shared within the HCHS community and potentially at broader platforms like the GLOBE International Virtual Science Symposium. The funds will be allocated to purchasing sensor components, hardware, and necessary materials for sensor assembly and data display.