"Ignite enthusiastic, effective and lifelong learning" – don't let go of the Lego, build new memories learning about air quality, weather, STEM, STEAM and blended instruction. You can build up children's health awareness with concepts from STEM and the common core using building blocks or you can teach a friend or yourself to save energy, prepare your house, or check if its safe to exercise down wind of the prevailing fires.  It's a long drought and coding/building/entrepreneurial types or agencies are inventing ways we can cope.

Don't give up on yet …Nerds and creatives are finding ways to cause new possibilities in our classrooms, on the playground or on route far from home to create a positive climate at home or in school.

Your doctor or telenurse may not be up to sort of helpful technology or hand held metadata yet, but your local teacher, health clinic, school nurse, principal, care giver may be almost ready to be this hip. 

With several socal valleys suffering the impact of ongoing evacuations from the Sand wildfires, our atmosphere is being impacted by haze, strange colored clouds, and drifting aerosols. New kinds of dust are landing on parked cars and settling on tables.   This particulate matter on your body or on windows is not good news.

Although some medical professionals do not seem to notice.  These tiny flakes can transform your interaction the world around you.  In a county region with a toxic or mixed bag of pollutants that are impacting your air inside and out there are new air quality tools and filters on the market.  You may reclaim the magic your day yet….with consumer electronics that can work on your cpu or smart phone.  For example,  Foobot, NASA, GLOBE, Dyson, IQ-Air, the school district and care givers are realizing there are ways to build STEM comprehension of climate and elements impacting temperature,  oxygen, humidity, and more.

As a parent you can find free websites to gather the facts on your air quality and make better decisions for you and your family's health.

Find out more about this from AQMD, science class, GLOBE storybooks, and from the Weather Bureau or University GLOBE or country partners, from product developers or from keeping track with citizen science.

A wildfire is no joking matter, but it can be studied, understood, and its impacts measured.  Some kids will become field scientists and others will enter virtual science fairs with GLOBE for trips and prizes, others will act more decisively with better understanding of risk factors and mediation.

Take a look at tools that can help us to have better breathing and a sense of safety that will lead to better lives a measurement at a time.

You can keep a science journal and help your sibling, your study time, and your own well being.  Technology can help you to alter your household energy pattern or cool down the house before you are home.  Look at Nest, Foobot.io and actions you can now take to improve your indoor air as well as save money and stay healthier.

Lego and climate:

https://www.climate.gov/teaching

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyMjwvfqAbc

http://www.weareteachers.com/blogs/post/2016/02/01/lego-writing-and-winter-weather-a-cross-curricular-seasonal-first-grade-lesson

https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/design_weather_instruments

http://lessonplanspage.com/teaching-stem-with-lego-education/

Teaching Science:

http://newyorkscienceteacher.com/sci/pages/movies/list.php

Living Wage and Forestry Workers in Santa Clarita:

http://www.careeroverview.com/usa/california/santa-clarita/life-physical-and-social-science/life-science-technical/forestry-and-wildlife-manager/

Smoke Forecasting:

http://airquality.weather.gov/

http://www.aqmd.gov/fire-monitoring-new

ftp://ftp.aqmd.gov/pub/globalist/Advisory.pdf

Dealing with Wildfire Smoke:

https://www3.epa.gov/airnow/wildfire_may2016.pdf

CDC:

http://emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/wildfires/index.asp

Health:

https://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=topics.smoke_events

Pollution Areas comment:

http://grist.org/justice/l-a-heatwave-could-mean-more-pollution-for-communities-of-color/

Out of date with the fires:

http://www.aqmd.gov/healthyhearths/chk-before-you-burn

Climate Estimates:

https://www.climate.gov/teaching/national-climate-assessment-resources-educators/southwest-region

Maps:

https://www.climate.gov/maps-data

California dreaming, meeting today:

https://blueskyfundersforum.org/learn/case-studies/changescale

https://naaee.clickwebinar.com/collective-impact-dr-nicole-ardoin-stanford-university/register

Tools on climate:

https://www.climate.gov/teaching/resources/education/informal

Climate Change Primer:

https://www.amazon.com/Global-Climate-Change-Orrin-Pilkey/dp/0822351099?ie=UTF8&SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=0822351099&linkCode=xm2&tag=duckduckgo-ffab-20

New GLOBE storybook expected:

http://www.globe.gov/web/elementary-globe/overview/earth-systems/story-book

New App with Aqmd and 800-cutsmog and fire information/smog alerts:

http://www.aqmd.gov/contact/smartphone

Get Connected to Clean Air…Aqmd Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUKLwLnQt6svrAeL9DgAAFqg&v=Rc4xSDNUCT0

Subregional Readings:

http://www.aqmd.gov/home/library/air-quality-data-studies/current-readings-at-air-monitoring-subregions