Tehran University of Medical Sciences Acta Medica Iranica 0044-6025 51 7 2013 07 15 487 493 EN Taraneh Yazdanparast Pediatric Respiratory Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Sousan Salehpour Tracheal Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Mohammad Reza Masjedi Telemedicine Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Seyed Ali Azin Iranian Institute for Health Sciences Research, The Academic Center for Education Culture and Research, Tehran, Iran. Seyed Mohammad Seyedmehdi Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Eddie Boyes Environmental Education Research Unit, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK. Martin Stanisstreet Environmental Education Research Unit, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK. Mirsaeed Attarchi Occupational Medicine Department, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 2015 10 11 Study of students' knowledge about air pollution can help authorities to have better imagination of this critical environmental problem. This research examines guidance school and high school students' ideas about air pollution and the results may be useful for the respective authorities to improve cultural and educational aspects of next generation. In this cross-sectional study, a closed questionnaire was used to examine knowledge and ideas of 2140 randomly selected school students of Tehran-Iran about composition of unpolluted air, air pollution and its causes and consequences. Cognitive scores were also calculated. Outcomes were compared with results of similar researches in Australia, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. While a student's 'cognitive score' could range from -16 to +16, Iranian students' mean cognitive score was equal to +2.97. There was not significant statistical difference between girls and boys (P=0.32). In response to question "most common gas in unpolluted air" nitrogen was mentioned by only 23.7%, While 45.1% of students mentioned oxygen. In general, student's knowledge was not acceptable and there were some misconceptions such as "supposing oxygen as the most prevalent gas in unpolluted air". The findings of this survey indicate that, this important stratum of society of Iran have been received no sufficient and efficient education and sensitization on this matter. https://acta.tums.ac.ir/index.php/acta/article/view/4406 https://acta.tums.ac.ir/index.php/acta/article/download/4406/4596