Schools sought to take part in SAMHE air quality project
A new project has been launched to understand the quality of indoor air in UK schools.
Supported by the Department for Education, the SAMHE project, which stands for Schools’ Air quality Monitoring for Health and Education, will distribute free high spec air quality monitors to schools, linked to a specially designed interactive Web App. This will enable pupils, teachers and school leaders to view and interact with the data on the air they are breathing.
Poor air quality can impact pupils’ concentration levels and their health, so it is important that we know what is in school air and when and how we should take action to improve it.
SAMHE is bringing together scientists, pupils and teachers to establish a network of air quality monitors in schools across the UK, creating an unparalleled dataset which will help researchers better understand schools' indoor air quality. It is funded by the Department for Education and EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and run by a team of scientists, software engineers and communication specialists from 6 institutions across the UK.
Successful school applicants will get a free high spec air quality monitor that measures carbon dioxide (CO2), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter (PM2.5), temperature(oC) and relative humidity (%). Teachers and pupils will be able to access their data through a specially designed interactive Web App, seeing how air quality changes over the course of hours, days or weeks and months.
The Web App will also offer a range of related activities and experiments, creating opportunities for pupils to be scientists and do hands-on experiments with their monitor.
Schools are being asked to test the initial version of our Web App before it launches more widely early in 2023.
If your school would like to become a SAMHE pioneer school and you are available to help with testing starting in November, please sign up now using the registration form on the SAMHE website samhe.org.uk.
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