Particulates Matter
by Nicky B.
3rd Place - Environmental Science

My question was: "Which zones in a city are the least desirable to live in due to air pollution?"

My research led me to believe that the worst air quality would be at the freeway and the airport.

For my experiment, I placed a total of 30 air-quality test cards with 5-centimeter circles smeared with petroleum jelly. I placed 10 collector cards for 48 hours each over a 6-day time-span. After this, I counted each speck on each card. Some of the results were very surprising.

My hypothesis was mostly correct, as the freeway onramp had the 2nd worst air quality and the freeway 3rd, but worse still was the  Pinecrest Parking Lot.

I learned a lot of interesting, and in some cases unsettling information about air pollution and I'm glad I did this report.