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March 8th - 10th 2023: Measuring the World

Reflection

Monitoring the environment in the MDEF classroom and speculating on it’s potential effects on concentration

From Objectives to the Hypothesis

Brainstorming Our Area of Interest

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|Our Sticky Note Brainstorm|

After being in the MDEF classroom for the last 6 months, many of us voice disatisfaction with it as a learning environment.

As you may or may not know, the classroom has no natural light, is very warm, and often has stale feeling air. Spending time in it, we often forget what the (often beautiful) weather is like in Barcelona and the notion of what time of day it is.

We have some ideas on how to improve the classroom: - Connecting the inside experience with the outside conditions by displaying the data comparatively - Putting camera and sensors in our patio, or on the beach, or on the street + in our classroom - Live video of the outside sky shown in classs to have a conection to the outside and understand real time, weather, temperature, and actually see daylight - Changing the lighting to not be florescent - Adding plants - Adding materials that absorb sound and/or air toxins - Having ergonomic furniture for posture & concentration - Creating space to display materials and projects to enhance creativity, inspiration, and tidyness

But to make the case to enhance the classroom, we need to collect data to show that the current environment is not conducive to learning.

So we decided to monitor the MDEF classroom and another IAAC classroom weather conditions, noise, air quality, and light.

We hope to compare these two to see which has better learning conditions. Additionally, we would like to compare them with outside weather.

Research

Well-designed classrooms make a significant difference to academic performance where studies have found that improved physical characteristics can boost the learning abilities of students. In a study from University of Salford, UK, the findings reveal that certain design elements are intrinsic to improving learning in the classroom. These are: Daylight, Indoor air quality, Acoustic environment, Temperature, Classroom design and Stimulation (commercial.velux.com, n.d.).

Air Quality

The quality of indoor air inside offices, schools, and other workplaces is important not only for workers’ comfort but also for their health. Poor indoor air quality (IAQ) has been tied to symptoms like headaches, fatigue, trouble concentrating, and irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and lungs impacting health and learning outcomes (www.osha.gov, n.d.). Classroommicroclimate is the first key factor determining a healthy or unhealthy school environment, and it is influenced by ventilation, temperature and humidity rate. Classrooms are usually crowded, overheated and poorly ventilated, thus resulting in possible increases of carbon dioxide (CO2), that can cause several problems when its concentrations exceed the value of 0.15 percentage volume of CO2 (1500 ppm) or even at lower levels (1000 ppm)(Pulimeno et al., 2020). High carbon dioxide levels are an easy-to-measure indicator of overall indoor air quality since high CO2 levels correlate with high levels of dust, mold, mildew and airborne viruses. There is also a correlation between high carbon dioxide levels and reduced attention and test scores (CO2 Meter, n.d.). CO2 can also arise from outside the school, being widely produced by the combustion of fossils or road traffic. Anthropogenic activities are responsible for the emission of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAH) too, which represent other possible external contaminants potentially impairing IAQ. Furtherdangerous exposures for students’ health are those related to natural emission of gas Radon, which typically accumulates in poorly ventilated classrooms, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs, released by building materials, paints, furnishings, detergents), while chemicals substances (i.e.cyanoacrylate, lead, cadmium, nickel) might be contained in school materials (Pulimeno et al., 2020).

Natural Light

Natural light “helps to regulate our sleep-wake cycles, improves amount and quality of sleep — which in turn ensures that circulating levels of stress hormone are down, our glucose metabolism is normal and our fatigue levels are controlled. So performance and concentration improves.” Natural light has major paybacks for your energy levels. Several studies have noticed a link between exposure to natural light(especially in home, schools, and office) and steady energy levels during the day. According to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District study, people perform 10-25 percent better on tests of mental function and memory recall when they work in a room with natural light, compared to those with artificial ones. Naturally illuminated work spaces mean even after a busy long day the inhabitant always comes back home with more energy, a greater level of mental and physical clarity.

Studies from the Journal of Environmental Psychology, noted a phenomenon that may stem from biophilia — human beings’ natural desire to be connected with nature. While the concept of biophilia is debatable, the effects of the phenomenon are not; researchers noted that simply staring at an image of natural scenery for 40 seconds was enough to trigger the brain into a more relaxed state. The control group in this study stared at a concrete roof, while the test subjects stared at a green meadow.

Beyond this feeling of relaxation, subjects who stared at the green meadow performed significantly better in a test of attention after the initial session; they made fewer mistakes, and were less distracted all around (Johansson, 2018).

Over-illuminating spaces with artificial lighting can have the opposite effect leading to issues like headaches, feelings of discomfort, and anxiety (Lee et al., 2015).

Artificial Light

Generally, the following interior light levels in schools are recommended:

100 lux for interiors where visual tasks are limited to movement and casual perception, e.g. circulation areas, corridors, etc. 500 lux for interiors where school children need to perform their visual tasks and have a feeling of well-being, e.g. auditoriums, lecture halls, practical rooms and laboratories, libraries (reading areas), etc. In classrooms, this should also be the level of light on the blackboard/whiteboard. For classrooms used by young children, the standard state that the requirement can be lowered to 300 lux by dimming. 750-1000 lux for interiors where visual tasks are difficult, requiring small details to be perceived, or if the assumptions differ from the normal visual conditions (commercial.velux.com, n.d.).

Sound.

“The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends 35 decibels as the limit for background noise in school classes. Noise which exceeds this limit makes it more difficult to communicate and to distinguish speec

“Research on the effects of noise show that noise disturbs the learning and wellbeing of children. Noise impairs memory, concentration, the ability to distinguish speech, the process of learning to read and reading comprehension. It has also been discovered that noise is connected to the amount of stress hormones and high blood pressure on children. Research indicates that children do not become accustomed to noise and the harm it causes does not reduce over time”

*Particulate Matter: *

Particulate matter. A mixture of solid and liquid particles in the air that are small enough not to settle out on to the Earth’s surface under the influence of gravity, classified by aerodynamic diameter. Air pollutants measured include PM2.5 and PM10 (particles with an aerodynamic diameter of equal or less than 2.5, also called fine, and 10 micrometre respectively), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and sulfur dioxide (SO2). Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) can penetrate through the lungs and further enter the body through the blood stream, affecting all major organs.

Exposure to PM2.5 can cause diseases both to our cardiovascular and respiratory system, provoking, for example stroke, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Project Goals

leading inquiry in a question

How does the built environment affect our health and learning?

objective in a sentence

To create a better environment for learning and wellbeing in (our) MDEF classrooom but proving the current class conditions are sub-optimal.

question(s) in a sentence

Is the air and light quality in the MDEF classroom conducive to optimal health and learning conditions?

hypothesis in a sentence

The MDEF classroom has poor ventilation, air quality, natural light levels, and noise quality.

null hypothesis in a sentence

The MDEF classroom environment is optimal for learning.

reasoning in a sentence

the MDEF classroom is a non-concentration friendly environment.

Tips

If we were to attempt this again we would: - Measure the environment over a longer period of time - Speak to our fellow peers and collect data from them about how the class makes them feel - Have more energy to tackle this

From hypothesis to data

Tool Selected

S M A R T C I T I Z E N K I T

We decided to work with a Smart Citizen Kit. It allows people to easily measure and collect data such as air quality and noise levels from their environment, and visualize it while sharing it with everyone on its dedicated platform. All of these, while being completely open-source and customizable to your needs.

It measures Weather Conditions, Noise Levels, Air Quality and Light Levels which makes it a good option to measure and collect data from the interior qualities of the MDEF classroom.

The kit includes sensors for air temperature, relative humidity, noise level, ambient light, barometric pressure, equivalent carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds and particle matter.

Install and get started with the Smart Citizen Kit from the instructions: https://docs.smartcitizen.me/#guides

Possible extra tools Light properties (LUX) https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/science-with-a-smartphone-measure-light-with-lux/ https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/7/6/616

Tool usage documentation

Secure a Smart Citizen Kit and navigate to the set up wizard: https://start.smartcitizen.me/wizard/landing?lang=eng

We set up the Smart Citizen Kit from following the instructions and placed it in the center of the back wall of the MDEF classroom to get an overall estimation of the qualities in the room. We also placed another reference kit in a classroom on the third floor which has a better indoor environment with natural light and airflow. This kit is the reference point to compare the different envirionmental conditions in the IAAC building.

Once set up you can follow your kit. Ours are trackable at the following urlss: - https://smartcitizen.me/kits/16118 - https://smartcitizen.me/kits/16119

Data capturing strategy

How do you combine the tool provided with your creativity to prove your hypothesis? How long did you capture data?

Thoughts on how we could capture data, -measure qualities in classroom before people come -measure qualities in room meanwhile classroom is full of people -measure qualities after a full day in classroom -compare data with measurements made outside from other online Smart Citizens Kits -Think about how to visualise information

00 · We started capturing data from a kit in the MDEF classroom and a reference kit in another classroom the 08.03.23 at 16.40. 01 · We collected the data from both kits the 09.03.23 at 19.00.

Materials needed

List all the materials needed, including those given to you, those you source or even things you built yourself.

  • SMART CITIZEN KIT Part List 1 x Smart Citizen Main Board 1 x Smart Citizen Sensor Board 1 x Adapter 1 x PM2.5 sensor 1 x Micro USB Cable 1 x Smart Citizen Sack 1 x MicroSD Card 1 x Lithium Battery
  • Computer to connect and start the Smart Citizen Kit and to collect the data
  • Software OrangeDataMining to visualise collected data

Detail setup instructions

Setup process included following the Smart citizen Wizard prompts ie assembling the boards, connecting the device to the wifi and activating it via our phones.

https://github.com/fablabbcn/mdef-a-world-in-data

Data collected

Describe the raw data you collected by posting a sample i.e. a picture, a screen capture, etc.

Tips

Explain one or more mistakes you’ve done during that phase? What would you change if will do it again? (max 560 char)

Data capture

We connected 2 smart citizen devices (1 each room) and took data from the one at the beach from the smart citizen platform. Then we connected all to the ORANGE data platform and started comparing the parameters between them.

The 3 points data was merged and converted to charts, so we could compare the parameters that are important for sensing the ambient quality of the rooms, those were:

  • Light
  • Noise
  • CO2
  • Temperature
  • TVOC
  • PM 1.0
  • PM 2.5
  • eCO2
  • Humidity

References: TVOC: Total volatile organic compounds is a grouping of a wide range of organic chemical compounds to simplify reporting when these are present in ambient air or emissions. Many substances, such as natural gas, could be classified as volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

PM: Stands for particulate matter: the term for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. Some particles, such as dust, dirt, soot, or smoke, are large or dark enough to be seen with the naked eye.

eCO2: Equivalent CO2 is the concentration of CO2 that would cause the same level of radiative forcing as a given type and concentration of greenhouse gas. Examples of such greenhouse gases are methane, perfluorocarbons, and nitrous oxide.

Here the images of the charts:

  • MDEF room: Parameter (1)
  • Reference IAAC room: Parameter (2)
  • Beach: Parameter

Noise Map

CO2 and eCO2 Map

Temperature Map

PM 1.0 Map

TVOC Map

Humidity Map

Line Charts

Light

(The max. value given at MDEF room was 312.8 lux at 7hs - 09/03/23) The recommended artificial light value for study rooms is between 300 to 1000 lux

Noise

(The max. value given at mdef room was 60 dBA at 14.10hs - 09/03/23) The recommended dBA limit value for study rooms is 35 dBA

CO2

(The max. value given at mdef room was 709 ppm at 10.20hs - 09/03/23) The recommended value for CO2 levels in study rooms is 1000 ppm

PM2.5

(The max. value given at mdef room was 13 Ug/m3 at different times - 09/03/23) The recommended value for study rooms is 15 ug/m3

Temperature (The max. value given at mdef room was 26.4ºC at 15.20hs - 08/03/23)

TVOCs

(The max. value given at mdef room was 112.8 ppb at 13.50hs - 09/03/23) TVOC recommended value is 30 to 869 ppb

Reference room IAAC

  • from the beach
  • from the MDEF classroom

With OrangeDataMining we compare the data from this different places.

Data summary

Data Summary
Project Title Indoor Environment MDEF Classroom
Capture Start 08-03-2023
Capture End 09-03-2023
Original Data Format Multiple images
Submitted format CSV file
Total Data Points 100
Number of datasets 1
Data Repository

Data insights

:::warning A hypothesis may be testable, but even that isn’t enough for it to be a scientific hypothesis. In addition, it must be possible to show that the hypothesis is false if it really is false. Proving it’s true it will require testing all possible combinations, that’s hard, maybe impossible. :::

Post at least two images of a chart, a screen-shoot of your data, that you used to prove if your hypothesis is false.

Tips

Explain one or more mistakes you’ve done during that phase? What would you change if will do it again? What if you will have more time? (max 560 char)

To get a more secure data collection it would be beneficial to collect data during a longer period of time, as well as do it in a more facilitated way to know exactly what qualities the room has during the night when no one is there for example. It would also be beneficial to engage with classmates and educators to understand their point of view about the classroom to get a broader understanding of how they are affected by the environment.

References:

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Last update: June 20, 2023