Grade 6 take action against Carbon Monoxide in Algiers

Every winter, thousands of people die due to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless, and tasteless gas, that comes from fires when they don’t have enough air supply (oxygen), this is called incomplete combustion. When you breathe carbon monoxide in, it gets into your bloodstream and tricks your body into considering it as oxygen until it is too late! This is because carbon monoxide binds very strongly to the iron atoms in haemoglobin inside red blood cells. The affinity between CO and haemoglobin is 200 times stronger than the affinity between haemoglobin and oxygen. When CO binds to the haemoglobin it cannot be released as quickly as oxygen would be. This causes suffocation as body tissues are not getting any oxygen.    

In countries with prevalent poverty rates or simply corrupt governments, carbon monoxide takes a significantly larger amount of lives each year, especially in the winter months. This is due to many reasons in addition to poverty, such as the lack of awareness amongst people, and the lack of domestic heating regulations.

Grade 6 students decided to take action against this deadly gas! We are using our Science and I&S knowledge, and research to study the roots of the problem and to find ways to raise awareness and conduct research based on carbon monoxide poisoning around the world with a specific focus on Algeria as a case study.  It has come to our attention that this is a problem in Algeria as several of our classmates and teachers are from Algeria and have lost friends and family members in the past due to this issue. We are working with a local British School and some local charities and organisations such as Green Tech to raise awareness about the issue. We are also planning to raise some funds to purchase some carbon monoxide alarms and get them installed in the homes of some needy families in Algiers, this will hopefully save some lives before the coming winter! The funds will also be used to donate to some UK charities and other charities identified by us as part of our research.

In our coming unity on Electricity, we plan to make some carbon monoxide alarms ourselves and see if we can share the method with our friends in the British School and Greentech so they can make them locally.

We are focusing on this project because it takes the lives of many people while few people recognize it as a problem. It is not just limited to Algeria, but it is killing people around the world. In Japan, for example, it is estimated that 2000 to 5000 lose their lives to carbon monoxide poisoning! Even in London, we have a problem with it. 

Grade 6 has several fund-raising events already planned, including origami, a bake sale, soap carvings, pillows, caricatures, a four-square competition, a running race, a Minecraft tournament and an aeroplane competition. From June 1^st we have a whole month full of fun events designed to raise money to save lives and stop gas poisoning. You can find more information on this on the boards outside the science labs. Soon you will see posters advertising several fund-raising events around the school. Help raise awareness and save lives with Grade 6 for a healthier world. - Grade 6 contributing article