CONSERVATION EDUCATION
Air
South Dakota's wide open skies are part of what makes this place special. Healthy land and good conservation practices help keep our air clean.
About Air
Air might be the natural resource we take most for granted, but what happens on the land directly affects the air above it. Healthy grasslands, cover crops, and windbreaks all play a role in keeping South Dakota's air clean and reducing dust, pollutants, and emissions.
South Dakota's air quality is generally good, but it faces real pressures, from blowing soil on bare fields and road dust to agricultural odors and industrial emissions. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s is the starkest reminder of what happens when the land loses its cover. An estimated 850 million tons of topsoil blew off the Great Plains in a single day in 1935, and South Dakota was at the center of it.
That history is why conservation practices like cover cropping, no-till farming, and windbreak planting matter so much. Keeping the soil covered keeps it in place and keeps it out of the air.
Why It Matters
It connects
everything
The air we breathe is shaped by the health of the land around us. Healthy soil, plants, and water all contribute to cleaner air.
We learned
the hard way
South Dakota lived through the Dust Bowl. Conservation practices exist specifically to make sure it never happens again.
Land management makes a difference
Cover crops, no-till farming, and healthy grasslands all reduce dust, erosion, and emissions, conservation and air quality go hand in hand.
Air Activities
Photo from History.com
This informative 3-minute video clip from the History Channel's "Dust Bowl" explores the root causes behind the Dust Bowl, shedding light on the factors that led to this environmental catastrophe
More Air Materials & Activities
The American Lung Association has created a series of indoor air quality activities and lessons for teachers and caregivers of children pre-k through middle school to teach about indoor air quality concepts in a fun, engaging way.
The UCAR Center of Science Education offers a range of educational activities to help students explore air pollution, its science, and solutions. Activities cover topics such as carbon dioxide emissions, parts per million and billion, smog modeling, air pollutant identification, ozone effects, ground-level ozone variations, and understanding contributions to air pollution from daily activities.