Summary
Areas of Science
Difficulty
Time Required
Average (6-10 days)
Credits
*Note:
For this science project you will need to develop your own experimental procedure. Use the information in the summary tab as a starting place. If you would like to discuss your ideas or need help troubleshooting, use the Ask An Expert forum. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions and offer guidance if you come to them with specific questions.
If you want a Project Idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk (*) at the end of the title.
If you want a Project Idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk (*) at the end of the title.
Abstract
Smog days are often posted in your local newspaper. Check how many smog days your city has had in the last year. How does it compare to to other years? You can also take pictures of your city landscape on high and low smog days. How do the pictures compare? How does smog in the atmosphere affect visibility? What is smog made of? You can use tongue depressors smeared with Vaseline to check for smog particles in different areas; just stick in the ground and look at them a few days later. Examine the smog particles with a magnifying glass. What kinds of particles do you see? Which areas accumulated the most smog? See the Science Buddies project Air Particles and Air Quality, for a full description.
Ask an Expert
Do you have specific questions about your science project? Our team of volunteer scientists can help. Our Experts won't do the work for you, but they will make suggestions, offer guidance, and help you troubleshoot.
Careers
If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring these related careers:
Career Profile
Have you ever noticed that for people with asthma it can sometimes be especially hard to breathe in the middle of a busy city? One reason for this is the exhaust from vehicles. Cars, buses, and motorcycles add pollution to our air, which affects our health. But can pollution impact more than our health? Cutting down trees, or deforestation, can contribute to erosion, which carries off valuable topsoil. But can erosion alter more than the condition of the soil? How does an oil spill harm fish…
Read more
Career Profile
Our environment on planet Earth is made up of the air, water, and land. Environmental compliance inspectors work to protect and preserve our environment and the public by making sure communities, individuals, businesses, and state and local governments are in compliance with pollution laws and regulations.
Read more
Career Profile
The atmosphere is a blanket of gases, surrounding Earth, that creates our weather. Meteorologists study the measurements and motion of the atmosphere, and changing events within it, so that they can predict the weather. This weather forecasting helps the general public and people who work in industries such as shipping, air transportation, agriculture, fishing, forestry, and water and power better plan for the weather, and reduce human and economic losses.
Read more
Related Links
- Science Fair Project Guide
- Other Ideas Like This
- Weather & Atmosphere Project Ideas
- Environmental Science Project Ideas
- My Favorites
Cite This Page
General citation information is provided here. Be sure to check the formatting, including capitalization, for the method you are using and update your citation, as needed.MLA Style
Science Buddies Staff.
"Air Pollution." Science Buddies,
14 June 2018,
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Weather_p015/weather-atmosphere/air-pollution.
Accessed 3 June 2023.
APA Style
Science Buddies Staff.
(2018, June 14).
Air Pollution.
Retrieved from
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Weather_p015/weather-atmosphere/air-pollution
Last edit date: 2018-06-14
Explore Our Science Videos
Do Veritasium's Helicopter Rope Experiment at Home
Cotton Ball Launcher - Fun STEM Activity
Build A Wall Marble Run!