Keep Me Clean: A New Policy Proposal to Clean Filters of Air Conditioners in Our School

Often times children and their teachers are shut in their rooms with old air conditioners that are not maintained by anyone. The filters are not changed on any regular basis, certainly not yearly. This causes breathing problems for those who are sensitive to the allergies that this lack of air conditioner maintenance causes. This is especially true for those who suffer from asthma and or other breathing problems.

Your teacher has been seeking to create a policy whereby the school would be required to change the air conditioner filters annually and to regularly maintain them. She wants you to help her research this problem and present a new policy that hopefully school administration would implement.

Call together a class meeting enlisting other students who would be will to help the teacher create a clear air policy for the school focusing on clean air conditioners. Once you have formed a group you will complete step two below to gather your research and to create a suggested policy for the school.

1. Define and describe the problem https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet1.doc
2. Gather the evidence https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet2.doc
3. Identify the causes of the problem https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet3.doc
4. Describe and evaluate existing policies https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet4.doc
5. Develop several policy solutions https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/solutionsex.html
6. Select the best policy https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet6.doc

Once the group has completed the steps above and gathered their research they will formulate a policy for the school to present to the Principal. They will write a written report of their finding, create a posted that lays out the problems and possible solutions, and will write a proposal suggesting their new policy to be used with their meeting with the Principal.

Meet with the Principal to present the findings of the report and present the poster presentation along with the proposed suggested new policy guidelines.

http://nj.essortment.com/airconditioning_rvht.htm

http://www.pollutionbusters.com/air_pollution.htm

http://www.integrityair.org/news.htm#Article 5

http://www.integrityair.org/news.htm#Article 6

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/insidest.html

	3			2	1
Content	Writing shows in depth understanding of the social problem			Shows understanding through explicit references to the social problem	Shows understanding through implicit references to the social problem
Organization	Clear, elaborate sentence structure; gives background, analysis, and persuasive evidence for new policy		Writing varies length of sentences; gives some background, analysis, and partly persuades with some evidence		Writing uses basic sentence structure; news story gives little or no background or analysis, and does not support new policy
Presentation For Principal	Engaging; rehearsed, and presenters maintain appropriate attitude	Somewhat engaging; not well rehearsed, and presenters mostly maintain appropriate attitude				Does not keep audience's attention; was not rehearsed, and presenters do not maintain appropriate attitude
Collaboration	There is strong evidence that all group members participated equally	There is some evidence that all group members participated equally				There is little or no evidence that all group members participated equally
Visual Piece	Poster is appealing; images represent the themes in the news story	Poster captures the social issue but is not as relevant as category 3				Poster does not capture the social problem or the themes of the news story

Science

S4e- Demonstrates an understanding of the impact of science

S5e- Identifies problems; proposes and implants solutions; and evaluates the accuracy, design and outcomes of investigations.

S5f- Works individually and in teams to collect and share information and ideas.

S6b- Records and stores data using a variety of formats

S6d- Acquires information from multiple sources.

S7a- Represents data and results in multiple ways

S7b- Argues from evidence

S7e- Communicates in a form suited to the purpose and the audience

S8d- Demonstrates scientific competence by completing secondary research

English

E1c- Read and comprehend informational materials

E2a- Produce a report of information

E2e- Produce a persuasive essay.

E3b- Participate in group meetings.

By completing this PPA Webquest, you have now learned the importance of clean air and the need for air conditioner maintenance. As a Public Policy Analyst, you have identified the causes of the problem, provided evidence, researched the current policies, and creative a new school policy. As a result of this project, you have learned to create a policy for your school advocating for clean air conditioner filters.