Spotlight On Sarah Peterson
Making students feel safe during the return of in-person learning is no easy task. When Bruce Randolph High School students were faced with the decision to return to in-school learning, there were many questions about safety. Sarah Peterson is a science teacher at Bruce Randolph who has a background in immunology and infectious disease. Based on her education in immunology and infectious disease, Peterson began to think about how she could help address students' and families' concerns about returning to the classroom. Peterson teaches a scientific research class where the topic changes yearly, allowing students to learn about real-world issues in the scientific world. Peterson and her students began to think about COVID-19 on the aerosol level. They realized that measuring viruses directly in the air is a complex process. However, monitoring the carbon dioxide (CO2) of a room, or building, is an indicator of ventilation and filtration levels. In theory, if the air is well filtered and ventilated well, there is less likelihood of exposure to virus particles. Using grant funds, Peterson purchased CO2 monitors for her class and measured CO2 flow in classrooms and throughout the school. Luckily, the students’ research found that their school was well-ventilated and filtered.
Love My Air partnered with the junior class and provided 2B Technologies’ Personal Air Monitors (PAMs), which measures CO2, among other things. The students were able to contrast data from the original CO2 monitors with the Personal Air Monitors. With the PAMs, the class was able to walk around campus and collect data from different locations. The PAMs were also shared with McAuliffe International School to expand data comparison and hands-on learning.
All Love My Air participating schools can rent PAMs to pair with the curriculum. If you would like to borrow a set of PAMs for your students, please email Aubrey.Burgess@denvergov.org
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