Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection

Emergency Burn Ban In Effect 10/26/24 - An emergency burn ban is now in effect for all Connecticut State Parks, Forests, and Wildlife Management areas, prohibiting the use of all outdoor grills, firepits, and campfires, and the kindling and use of flame outdoors. DEEP and local agencies are working to contain several active fires across the state. Please avoid all affected State Parks and Forests, as well as the blue-blazed Mattabesett Trail. The Enduro Trail in Voluntown and portions of North Stonington within the Pachaug State Forest are closed at this time. Please note that today's forest fire danger report remains at an 'extreme' level. More information about the current fire danger, burn ban and recommended safety measures can be found here

Environmental Curriculum Topics:
Air Quality

The DEEP Office of Education and Outreach offers a series of educator workshops throughout the year, with some that focus on air quality and climate. Go to the DEEP Calendar of Events and search using the key word "workshop", or call the DEEP’s Kellogg Environmental Center at (203) 734-2513.

Environmental Curricula

Project Learning Tree: Energy & Society Module
The DEEP is one of the state sponsors of the Project Learning Tree curricula. PLT’s Energy & Society program provides formal and nonformal educators with tools and activities to help students in grades PreK-8 learn about their relationship with energy and investigate the environmental issues related to energy's role in society. Energy & Society helps students develop critical thinking skills to make decisions about their personal energy use. To schedule a workshop and receive the curriculum, please call the DEEP’s Kellogg Environmental Center at (203) 734-2513.

Air Quality Web Curriculum
Developed for the DEEP, this Air Quality curriculum is designed to incrementally lead students, Grades 6 – 9, through Internet-based and hands-on learning experiments to discover not only the science behind air quality, but also the health implications related to poor air quality exposure. To view the topics for grades 6 through 9, select New Haven as school district.

Additional Resources
The following sites may be useful for teachers, educators and students studying air quality and climate change.

DEEP Air Quality Monitoring
Includes the network of monitoring sites in Connecticut, a description of common air pollutants, and graphs of air quality trends in the state.

Air Quality Index
Provides the daily rating of the state’s air quality according to US EPA standards.

Linking Air Quality to the Classroom Curriculum:
State of Connecticut Science Curriculum Framework

The topic of air quality has been identified in the State Science Framework as a suggested 9th grade topic. For more information, read the full version of the science curriculum framework.

Grade 9 - The use of resources by human populations may affect the quality of the environment.

  • Emission of combustion by-products, such as SO2, CO2 and NOx by industries and vehicles is a major source of air pollution.
  • Explain how the release of sulfur dioxide (SO2) into the atmosphere can form acid rain, and how acid rain affects water sources, organisms and human-made structures.
  • Explain how the accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere increases Earth’s "greenhouse" effect and may cause climate changes.