Chalk Talk: Dunboyne pupils team up with local GAA club to investigate air quality
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Investigating the air they breathe! St Peter’s Dunboyne Senior Primary School pupils taking part in the air-quality project. From left: Meabh Sutton, Tom Collier, Jack O’Rourke, Clia Davis, Melissa Ciarlia and Niamh Glynn.Image 2 of 3
Young scientists from St Peter’s Dunboyne Senior Primary School taking part in the GLOBE Ireland Air Quality Campaign. From left: Robyn Dyle, Ella Carey, Kate Sheahan, Chloe Chen, Molly Timoney, Eva Tonge and Lara Czarnik.Image 3 of 3
Science moves out of the classroom and onto the pitch as pupils from St Peter’s Dunboyne Senior Primary School investigate air quality at St Peter’s Dunboyne GAA Club as part of the GLOBE Ireland Air Quality Campaign.Pupils in Dunboyne are turning their attention to the air we breathe as part of an exciting community environmental project involving Dunboyne Senior Primary School, Dunboyne Junior Primary School and St Peter’s Dunboyne GAA Club.
The three groups have joined forces to take part in the GLOBE Ireland Air Quality Campaign, linking the project with St Peter’s involvement in the GAA Green Club initiative. The collaboration gives pupils an opportunity to become citizen scientists while investigating an important environmental issue right here in their own community.
As part of the project, three air-quality monitoring tubes have been installed at different locations around the pitches at St Peter’s Dunboyne GAA Club. The tubes will help investigate levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), an air pollutant closely associated with vehicle exhaust emissions.
The monitoring tubes will remain in place during the GLOBE campaign before being removed and sent for laboratory analysis. Once the results are returned, the pupils will be able to examine and compare the findings and learn more about the factors that can influence air quality in their local environment.
The investigation provides a valuable opportunity for pupils to see science in action. Rather than learning about air pollution only in the classroom, they are collecting real environmental data from places that they and their families use every week.
The project also highlights the importance of community collaboration. By bringing together Dunboyne Senior Primary School, Dunboyne Junior Primary School and St Peter’s Dunboyne GAA Club, the initiative demonstrates how schools and community organisations can work together to investigate environmental issues and encourage positive action.
For the pupils, the project will encourage them to think about the connection between transport, traffic and the quality of the air around us. It will also open discussions about simple actions that communities can take to support cleaner air, including walking, cycling and scooting where possible and reducing unnecessary vehicle idling.
The initiative forms part of the schools’ wider commitment to environmental education and gives pupils the opportunity to contribute to a much larger scientific project through GLOBE.
Most importantly, the young scientists involved are discovering that looking after our environment begins close to home – and that by working together, schools, sports clubs and communities can make a real difference.