Schoolchildren monitor pollution
By Merete Bugsett
Lindahl - Newswire Norway
After the communist regimes of Eastern Europe fell like dominoes,
the outside world was shocked to discover large swathes of forests
dead or dying as a result of acid rain. In the Republic of Slovakia,
14,000 schoolchildren were enlisted to survey the extent of the
damage.
The survey was part of a major Norwegian-led European school project.
"The pupils set out rain gauges in the autumn. Every morning for
four weeks, they collected the water samples and measured the acidity
with litmus paper strips. The readings were logged, and then forwarded
to us", explains project leader Knut Smedsvig.
Together with forms from schoolchildren in 15 other European countries,
the Slovakian children's readings were recorded in Norway. The results
have now been published in the form of a giant map of Europe showing
the damage caused by acid rain in each country.
"This was not a rigid scientific investigation as such. But it
is remarkable how closely the children's findings correspond with
professional measuring stations", says Smedsvig.
Half a million children
The Norwegian Society for Conservation of Nature organised the project,
called Air Pollution Project Europe, with support from organisations
such as the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT).
The project started in 1992 with 12 European countries and 125,000
schoolchildren involved. The year after, it grew to 14 countries
and then 15. After five years, the Norwegians began to wind down
the project. By then 500,000 schoolchildren had taken part. However,
the project is still continuing in the Czech Republic, Poland and
Hungary.
The main objective was to measure acid rain, but each year also
included a secondary project. "The students grew tobacco and other
plants. As these plants are sensitive to ozone, they were able to
measure the amount of low level ozone by studying them," says Smedsvig.
A lichen survey was the longest secondary project. As some types
of lichen are much more resistant to pollution than others, the
type of lichen found in the woods is an indication of the level
of pollution. As with the precipitation readings, the children logged
their findings on forms that they then sent to Norway. These findings
were also included in the map of Europe.
Twinned classes and pen friends
"All the students received project books from us, and the entire
exercise was incredibly popular. The children were able to leave
the classroom and investigate nature. It was an entirely new way
of working in the East", explains Smedsvig.
In Slovakia 14,000 children took pH readings of rainwater, 7,000
monitored low level ozone, and 11,000 studied lichen over a three
year period. 600 teachers benefited from this boost to environment
studies. Every class that took part also had the opportunity to
be twinned with a class in another country if they wished. 3,000
students in Slovakia exchanged letters with children in other European
countries.
In most countries, mass participation in a school project was
a totally new experience. This was also true for Norway, where 600
schoolchildren were involved.
One of the keys to this success was to appoint a national coordinator
in each country, generally an environmental organisation, teachers
organisation, or public authority. These national co-ordinators
proved to be both enthusiastic and intelligent. In Slovakia, the
Norwegian Society for Conservation of Nature worked with the environmental
organisation Strolm Zivota.
Family influence
"A number of support programs were set up when the Eastern European
countries gained their independence from the Soviet Union. The majority
were government or business related. This was one of the few voluntary
projects", says Smedsvig.
The aim was to educate families about the problems caused by air
pollution. The children were very good at influencing their parents.
Which is how this information spread so quickly.
"The project attracted
a great deal of media coverage about the schools taking part. That
added an extra dimension and also helped raise awareness about acid
rain", adds Smedsvig.
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