The Air in Our School – Turning Classrooms into Environmental Observatories
How can Internet of Things technologies help students understand something invisible, but essential to their everyday life: the air they breathe?
The Air in Our School is a citizen science and environmental education initiative that uses affordable Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to transform classrooms into small environmental observatories.
Connected environmental sensors installed in schools continuously monitor key indoor air quality parameters such as particulate matter (PM), carbon dioxide (CO₂), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), temperature and humidity. The measurements are collected, transmitted to an online platform and transformed into information that students and teachers can easily explore and understand.
But the project goes beyond simply installing sensors.
Its objective is to make environmental data part of the learning process.
Students can observe how air quality changes during a normal school day and investigate the relationship between occupancy, classroom activities, ventilation and indoor environmental conditions. Opening a window, filling a classroom with students or changing an activity becomes an opportunity to observe a measurable effect in real data.
In this way, IoT technology creates a direct connection between the physical environment, digital technology and education.
The project follows the complete journey from sensor to insight:
environmental sensing → IoT connectivity → data collection → visualisation → interpretation → informed action.
Instead of working only with theoretical examples, students can explore environmental data generated by their own classroom. This creates opportunities to develop environmental awareness, scientific thinking, data literacy and citizen science skills while also encouraging discussion about healthier learning environments.
An important part of the initiative is also learning how to work critically with technology. Low-cost environmental sensors make large-scale monitoring accessible, but their measurements must be understood correctly. The project therefore introduces concepts such as sensor limitations, data quality, sensor placement, environmental context and responsible interpretation of measurements.
What makes the approach different
The innovation is not the sensor alone, but the way technology, environmental monitoring and education are combined into a practical learning ecosystem.
A classroom becomes a living laboratory where students can:
- measure their own environment;
- formulate questions and hypotheses;
- observe changes over time;
- analyse real-world environmental data;
- connect human behaviour with indoor air quality;
- discuss possible interventions;
- evaluate whether those interventions actually improve conditions.
Teachers can also use the data across multiple subjects, including science, environmental education, technology, mathematics and data analysis.
From monitoring to action
The aim is not simply to tell students whether the air is “good” or “bad”.
The project encourages them to ask:
Why did the CO₂ level increase?
What happens when we ventilate the classroom?
Why do particulate matter levels sometimes change?
How does the number of people in a room influence air quality?
Can we identify patterns during the school day?
By answering these questions using their own measurements, students move from being passive recipients of environmental information to becoming active observers of their environment.
A model that can be replicated
Because the initiative is based on affordable IoT technologies, web-based data platforms and a citizen science methodology, the model can be adapted and replicated in other schools and communities.
The same approach can support networks of connected classrooms, allowing schools to compare environmental conditions, share observations and progressively build a broader picture of indoor air quality.
The Air in Our School demonstrates how IoT can turn invisible environmental processes into visible, understandable and actionable information.
Ultimately, the project is not only about measuring air.
It is about giving students the tools to measure their environment, understand what the data means, ask better questions and use evidence to make better-informed decisions.
By transforming everyday classrooms into environmental observatories, IoT technology can help create a new generation of students who are not only consumers of data, but active participants in understanding and improving the environments in which they live and learn.
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