Oslo students developing and using low-cost air quality sensors

On the 8th of April, 80 high school students gathered at Kuben high school in Oslo, Norway, for a student conference. In the weeks before the conference, they had been busy building and programming low-cost air quality sensors and designing their own projects to measure air quality. The results were presented through scientific posters at the conference. This is part of the ACTION pilot dedicated to air quality sensing promoted by NILU – the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (https://www.nilu.no/en/). The students were really creative in designing their Particulate Matter (PM) sensors, and equipping them with extra gadgets, such as displays, noise sensors, or designing their own sensor casings with the help of a 3D-printer. The preparation activities focused on different issues: from inter-calibration of the low-cost sensors, to measuring air quality in different areas of Oslo or combining air quality information with other parameters, such as noise or temperature. A jury composed by NILU-scientists, teachers and the headmaster of Kuben high school selected the best poster and the best research project. In addition, also the audience got a chance to vote for the best poster. The students were very engaged in the activities and eager to prepare the best poster. The teachers were also very enthusiastic about the project, since its interdisciplinary character was ideal to combine different topics such as technology, science, environmental and societal problems and thus helped the students to not only learn about air pollution, but to look deeper into complex environmental problems.