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Resources for Educators

Interested in Air Sensors for your school or classroom?

We are starting up a
Air Sensor Lending Program
and we’d love to
hear from you!
Ready to get started?
Email us!

Welcome kids, parents and educators!

Engaging with our youth is a priority for Spokane Clean Air. Take a look around. You’ll find resources to help students understand and care about Spokane’s air.

Classroom Visits

We are available to engage K-12 students in Spokane County with classroom presentations. We can adjust our lessons to fit your needs so don’t hesitate to ask us for something specific.

To discuss and schedule a classroom program, please email LWoodard@spokanecleanair.org

Kids Making Sense Program for Middle and High Schools

Air sensors are great tools for educators to engage with their students around the topic of air quality. With the assistance of a state grant and support from three local business sponsors, Spokane Clean Air implemented the Kids Making Sense® program in eight pilot schools during the 2022-23 school year. Teachers from each school completed their trainings in November and implemented the program in their classrooms. Read more in this pilot program report.

(L) Educators assembling for a training session. (R) Contents of the KMS classroom kits.

WE ARE RECRUITING middle and high schools in Spokane County to participate during the 2023-24 school year! We ask that you send two educators to the next round of Kids Making Sense® (KMS) trainings. By attending the training, each school receives a KMS classroom kit valued at $2600. Contact Lisa Woodard at LWoodard@spokanecleanair.org and reserve today!

Special thanks to these participating organization and sponsors:

  • Washington State Department of Ecology
  • Spokane Public Library and Spokane County Library District
  • Spokane Public Schools
  • Cheney School District
  • Medical Lake School District
  • West Valley School District
  • Avista
  • Central Pre-Mix/Inland Asphalt
  • Hotstart Thermal Management

Climate Change Resources for Educators and Students

This EPA webpage has various Climate Change educational resources for educators and students. Other resources are being reviewed and will be added soon – please check back!

No-Idle Zone Program

We implement a statewide, award-winning No-Idle Zone program for area elementary and middle schools. Read about the program and the materials we provide to schools. Call or email to sign up for the program, 509-477-4727, ext. 115 or LWoodard@spokanecleanair.org.

Resource Library

We know how important it is to engage students in environmental education and we provide the following resources to help.

3 minute newsletter – a short one-page newsletter that provides resources for you to explore with your students in grades 3-5. *Please Note: The 3-minute newsletter is temporarily on-hold due to staffing issues. Below are past issues for your use!

Get to know Spokane Clean Air

Air monitoring in Spokane County

Understanding temperature inversions

Air quality and asthma

Get involved!

Care about the air on Earth Day and every day

More ways to stay involved


Other resources:

Nora & Wes: A Quest for Clean Air coloring storybook is geared toward K-4th graders. It includes puzzles and coloring pages for students to learn about air quality.

Nora & Wes: Airo’s Quest for Clean Air a graphic novel geared toward 5-8th graders. It is a step up from the coloring storybook and features a comic style that is fun and educational for an older audience. To request hard copies of these materials, email LWoodard@SpokaneCleanAir.org.

Why is Coco Red? Follow Coco and his friends on a new adventure as they learn about wildfire smoke and how it can affect air quality and health. This book is for all children, especially those with asthma, and their caretakers

The Air We Breathe is a colorful picture book is designed to introduce Earth’s atmosphere and its importance to life on Earth – appropriate for students in grades K-4.

Our Air Quality Scavenger Hunt helps kids explore the air. 

Join Arthur and his friend Buster as they discover more about asthma at PBS Kids.

This webpage provides lesson plans and resources organized by environmental topic.

Instructions to Build Your Own Particle Sensor. This activity will teach the basics about particulate matter air pollution and electronics. 

More resources from other agencies, including NASA.

Air Quality Awareness Week Poster Contest

In celebration of Air Quality Awareness Week held the first week of May, we sponsor a poster contest open to students in grades K-6. The contest opens in February with entries due by mid-April. Below is a collage of the 2023 poster contest finalists. The 2023 poster contest theme is “Working together for clean air.” Finalists are awarded prizes donated by local businesses. We thank these generous 2023 donors: Pizza Pipeline, Altitude Trampoline Park, Cat Tales Wildlife Center, Mobius Discovery Center, the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, LaserMaxx -Spokane, the Spokane Indians, and Wild Walls.

EnviroKids’ Club

We are a participating agency supporting the EnviroKids Club. EnviroKids’ Club is open to K-6 grade/school-aged children residing in Spokane County. Membership is free and includes a quarterly newsletter full of information, activities and invitations to local environmental/outdoor activities. Members can earn points to “purchase” special prizes. 

Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts

We work with scouting, campfire and other non-school based organizations within Spokane County. Call 509-477-4727 ext. 115 to discuss and schedule an air quality program that fits your needs.

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Dr. Seuss, The Lorax