Who / Where?

The Queensbridge Tech Lab is a branch of Queens library located within Queensbridge Houses with a mission around Digital Literacy and Free Access. The Queensbridge Tech Lab has received a grant to lead a Community Science Project in Summer 2019! We would love feedback on our curriculum / equipment choices / any resources or learning tools we can use as well as open invite to anyone in the NYC area who would like to participate in this 8 week hands-on Project! Internship opportunity for High-Schoolers who commit to participating in the full program will receive volunteer hours (possibly credit) and a free Go Pro (tentative).

What is it?

The Queensbridge Community Science Project is about observing the urban landscape that we live in, a little more closely. Specifically during the Project we will be leading hands-on activities for all ages that explore our local Queensbridge Air, Water, and Soil / Plant Life. While exploring these topics we will be learning how to use various Science & Technology tools while discussing solutions to indoor air quality, pathways for community advocacy, as well as next steps for community members who would like to continue monitoring. Even though the Project has a focus on using (Western) Scientific & Technology tools we want to ensure that we practice other ways of learning about and connecting with the urban environment & public health, as we are the library we try to speak to as many people as possible.

When is it?

Every Saturday in June/July starting June 1st, Times: TBD (2-3 hours), 8 Weeks Total, Summer 2019

**For the WATER or SOIL portion of this Program Documentation.**

JUNE 1st Project Overview & Launch Party:

• DISCUSSION: One of our Digital Literacy Instructors will lead a discussion around the following topics (Location: Inside QB Tech Lab & Green space)
  • What is Community Science & Public Health,
  • How does it relate / impact you
  • The history of environmental advocacy in NYC & beyond
  • Examples of other communities learning about & advocating for their environment
• ACTIVITY (Location: Green space next door or park)
  • Balloon Launch Mapping & Imaging & printing. TENTATIVE (need permission) launching a Drone with a GoPro (Resources: Balloon Mapping Curriculum & Prior workshop)
• KID ACTIVITY (Location: Green space next door)
• Building your own Kite , Balloons

JUNE 8th Outdoor Air:

• DISCUSSION One of our Digital Literacy Instructors will lead a discussion around the following topics (Location: Inside the QB Tech Lab)
  • Outdoor Air Pollution, what is it, its impact & cause
  • High rates of asthma, hot spots
  • Wind from Manhattan / air flow, Trucks, Queensboro Bridge. (Resource: history of Air Monitoring sensors, Air Quality)
  • How do more green spaces or a green wall make a difference
• ACTIVITY (Location: Inside QB Tech Lab & Outside around QB neighborhood)
  • Introducing an affordable real time Air Quality Monitoring system (ie. Airbeam, Purple Air, Dylos, Temtop,IQAir )
  • What's inside the sensor, how does it work (opening one up)
  • Discussing science & tech behind the sensors and what it is reading (Dust Particulates, Gases)
  • Walking around neighborhood and doing real time monitoring with the Air Quality Monitoring system - Finding pollution hot spots
• KID ACTIVITY (Location: Inside the QB Tech Lab)
  • Wind Tunnel - learning about air flow

JUNE 15th Indoor Air:

• DISCUSSION One of our Digital Literacy Instructors will lead a discussion about our findings from our Air Quality Monitoring Session (Location: Inside the QB Tech Lab)
  • Overlapping results onto our aerial map images of QB - marking where the hotspots are - are they near parks / playgrounds?
  • Discussing Indoor Air Quality - something we can have direct impact in changing, when is the most polluted time of the year, do air conditioners filter air, impact of dust in your apt?
• ACTIVITY (Location: Inside QB Tech Lab & Green Space)
  • Building an Indoor air filtration system with plants - discussing certain plants that cleanse the air (Resource: Plant Based Air Purifier)
• KID ACTIVITY (Location: Inside QB Tech Lab & Green Space)
  • Learning about how plants / what plants can clean our air with Tamykah Anthony-Marston from Xanthines Cafe, Seeing Pollution Activity