Air Quality Health Index classroom kit, grades 5 and 6, health: chapter 7


Station 4: Getting Ready for Work!

Summary

Students use narrative to reflect on how they make decisions and communicate their  personal, family, and community attitudes towards healthy lifestyles and safety.

Real-World Connection

Begin to think about and explore potential careers.

Consider how air quality and weather affect an individual’s daily life choices.

Curricular Themes

A complete set of provincial and territorial curriculum links can be found at the end of the stations.

  • Identify factors that influence attitudes and decisions regarding healthy lifestyles (e.g., media, family, peers).
  • Reflect on and communicate personal, family, and community attitudes towards safety.

Materials

  • Die

Preparation

  • Student Instructions (1 per station)
  • Student Handout 4 (1 per student)
  • Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) Health Message chart (1)
  • Data Sheet (1)
Smog over a busy highway

Station 4: Student Instructions

Do you know what you want to be  when you grow up? Any idea where you would like to live? In this activity, you will explore some different career choices in different parts of Canada, and then consider how the air quality in that city might affect your job and your life.

  1. Look at the table below. There are four (4) categories (Careers, Community, Age, Health, and AQHI). In each category, there are six options. Each player will take turns rolling the die to see what they get for each category.
  2. Start with the Career category. Roll the die and select the matching option. For example, if you roll a 3, then you are a teacher. If you roll a 6, you are a doctor specializing in asthma patients. Record the career on your Student Handout Sheet.
  3. Take turns rolling the die for the Community category. Record your city on the Student Handout. If you roll a 2, then you live in Sydney, Nova Scotia. If you roll a 5, you live in Trois-Rivières, Québec, etc.
  4. Continue with each of the categories, with each person rolling the die and recording their results on their Student Handout Sheet. Now, every person has a career, a city to live in, a relative age, understands any health problems they may have, and knows what the AQHI is for that day.
  5. Complete the Student Handout. You will be giving tips to a rookie on the job about how you prepare for your day. Use the AQHI Health Message chart to learn a bit more about how the air quality affects your choices.
Categories
Roll Careers Community Age Health AQHI
1 Construction worker Windsor, Ontario 20-40 years Healthy 1
2 Professional soccer player Sydney, Nova Scotia 20-40 years Healthy 2-3
3 Teacher North Vancouver, British Columbia 40-50 years You have a cold and sore throat 4-5
4 Landscaper Winnipeg, Manitoba 40-50 years You have mild asthma 6-7
5 Day care specialist Trois-Rivières, Québec 50-70 years You have severe asthma 8-9
6 Doctor specializing in asthma patients Fort McMurray, Alberta 50-70 years You have a mild heart condition 10+
1 to 10+ graduated colored scale (from pale blue to red)
AQHI Health Message
Health Risk AQHI Health Messages
    At Risk Population General Population
Low 1-3 Enjoy your usual outdoor activities. Ideal air quality for outdoor activities.
Moderate 4-6 Consider reducing or rescheduling strenuous activities outdoor if you are experiencing symptoms. No need to modify your usual outdoor activities unless you experience symptoms such as coughing or throat irritation.
High 7-10 Reduce or reschedule strenuous activities outdoors. Children and the elderly should also take it easy. Consider reducing or rescheduling strenuous activities outdoors if you experience symptoms such as coughing and throat irritation.
Very High Above 10 Avoid strenuous activities outdoors. Children and the elderly should also avoid outdoor physical exertion. Reduce or reschedule strenuous activities outdoors, especially if you experience symptoms such as coughing and throat irritation.

Station 4: Student Handout

Student Handout Form

Name:

Career:

Community:

Age:

Health:

AQHI:

Write an email to the rookie, giving them tips about how to prepare for the job each morning and keep a healthy lifestyle and safe workplace.

Include: preparations, clothes/gear, airquality, weather.

Help the rookie make the right choices by telling them who influences your decisions (e.g., media, family, peers).

Email template
Long description

New message to be completed that contains some heathers such as “Object, an introduction that begins with “Hello”, as well as “Some of the things I do in my job are…”, “the weather and the air quality affect my job quite easily because…”, “ So when I get up in the morning, I prepare for my day by…”, and finally the last one “I try to make the right choices for a healthy lifestyle and safe workplace. Sometimes others influence my decisions. For example, ...

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