Proposal

Name:

A Schoolyard Sensing Kit for Teachers & Students

FiscalYear:

2018

Audience:

Education, College of

Submitter:

Nichols, Bryan

Budget Manager:

Robeson, Robert A.

Project Manager:

Nichols, Bryan

Proposal Approvers

Dept. Chair:

Ridener, Barbara R.

Local IT:

N/A

Dean:

Bristor, Valerie J.

Facilities:

N/A

OIT:

Bagdonas, Joseph A.

Proposal Funding

Year 1:

$ 0.00

Year 2:

$ 0.00

Year 3:

$ 0.00

Total:

$ 0.00

Proposal Funding versus Average

Questionnaire

Narrative
This proposal is for quality sensing equipment that will become part of a schoolyard sensing kit for preservice elementary school teachers. It will be developed in the science and environmental education program at FAU and deployed at local public schools in conjunction with a new honors-in-the-major program, the Bachelor’s in Elementary Education with Honors in Environmental Education (EEhEE). The proposed equipment includes an Aeroqual Outdoor Air Quality Test Kit ($2680), two Class II sound level meters with data-logging functionality, and a Calibrator (PCE-322-SC42 $ 297, $188). This equipment would be incorporated into a broader “schoolyard inventory and monitoring” kit and associated curricula that would introduce new honors elementary teachers to ways they and their students can more deliberately survey and monitor their school environments. Elementary school teachers do not enough quality science experiences, and this new kit, with appropriate faculty mentoring and curriculum development, will help change that by linking environmental monitoring to state science standards. This work has obvious links with FAU pillars (Sensing and Smart Systems, Environmental Sciences), as well as several platforms (community engagement, healthy campus, environmental justice, and undergraduate research). If schools end up investing in their own, ongoing monitoring with fixed sensors, it could help contribute to big data analytics as well as global perspectives and participation, by comparing data to schools in other countries. Quiet contemplation and good air quality have obvious implications to mental and physical health and learning, so the kit and curricula will help motivate teachers and students to find quiet areas to visit, cherish, and protect. This links to new GIS and geospatial work being done by students on school grounds. Work in all these areas will help generate science and environmental education grants.
Facilities
NA
Hardware Requirements
NA
Software Requirements
Any necessary software comes with the equipment.
Personnel Costs
NA
Other Costs
NA
Timeline
The kit would be purchased, assembled, and tested with students in Spring 2019. It would then be incorporated into the honors program.
Sustainability
As the equipment and the associated curricula would be developed as part of a new honors-in-the-major program, it could be continued indefinitely, and expanded as merited. Once this kit and protocols are tested and developed, individual schools could generate interest in sponsorship for their own sensing equipment, including fixed installations that monitor constantly and contribute to national and global databases.
Resource Matching
If the kit and associated lessons and data become popular, schools and donors may end up purchasing more.
Implementing Organization
NA

Proposal Budget

Fiscal Year 1 Fiscal Year 2 Fiscal Year 3 Total
Hardware One-Time $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Hardware Recurring $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Software One-time $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Software Recurring $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Personnel One-time $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Personnel Recurring $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Other One-time $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Other Recurring $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Totals $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00

Supporting Documentation

Filename Size Description
Outdoor Air Quality Test Kits Spec Sheet.pdf 888,107b