Build Your Own

Introduction

Creating a Corsi-Rosenthal Box/Do-It-Yourself air purifier is as easy as ordering a 20" box fan, four MERV13 air filters, and a roll of duct tape. Use our infographic from the Edge Collective under “media” and watch our “How to create video” by undergraduate engineering students to immediately improve your indoor air quality.  Additional resources with Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), photo gallery, and more helpful info at affiliate site https://cleanaircrew.org/box-fan-filters/.

STEM Lesson Plans 

Our STEM curriculum experts, led by Dr. Todd Campbell at the UConn Neag School of Education, have created these free, open-source lesson plans which are based on the Next Generation Science Standards, adopted by Connecticut in 2015, and teach important concepts of human health, air pollution, STEM-based problem solving, as well as social and environmental justice.

Corsi-Rosenthal Box Lesson Plan Eighth Grade Biology

orsi-Rosenthal-Box-Lesson-Plan-Eighth-Grade-Biology

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Corsi-Rosenthal Box Unit Plan 5th Grade

Corsi-Rosenthal-Box-Unit-Plan-5th-Grade

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Girl Scouts Lesson Plan Outline

Girl-Scouts-_-Lesson-Plan-Outline

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Materials

  • Box fans: Our team used Lasko or Utilitech brand 3-speed fans, ~$20 – or use whatever box fan you have at home! Some other brands may louder on low speed than others; if using for instructional settings, these two models are about 51 decibals on low speed.
  • MERV13 filters: Do not use a lower grade of filtration than MERV13. Brands of filters we have used which work well include 2” thick from Texair, Filterbuy.com, Pamlico and 1” thick by 3M, Honeywell, ACE Hardware.
  • Duct tape: Not all duct tape is created equal! We have used 3M brand multipurpose and heavy duty duct tape; Duct brand and ACE brand also work well. Avoid tapes that are made of “fabric” or “light duty use”.
  • Cardboard: Save the cardboard from the fan box to make the bottom of the air purifier and the shroud on top. If using a box fan from home, find two 20 inch square pieces of cardboard.

Instructions: