Lesson 3
Fuss About Dust
OVERVIEW
In this lesson, students are challenged to reduce dust in household environments. They will
create a device to recover samples of dust (either from home or in the classroom) and conduct
observations to evaluate the presence of dust in various locations. To do this, students will use
a magnifier to examine and quantify dust in their samples. Finally, students will compare their
samples with skin scraped (gently) from their arm as well as other dusty substances such as
flour to determine the origin of dust. As an extension, students will brainstorm solutions for
reducing dust in the home.
Note: This lesson is intended for classroom activity, and students who wish to
create videos for the 2013 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge may
consider any subject within the broader categories of How We Live, How We Work
and How We Play, as presented in the official rules.
Length of Lesson: 2-3 class periods, time outside of class
Grade Level: 5-8
Subject Area(s): Science, Technology
OBJECTIVES
Students will:
Recognize how airborne pollutants impact our health
Describe observations made with a microscope
Construct devices to sample household airborne pollutants
Compare and contrast samples of household airborne pollutants
Develop conclusions about observations of airborne pollutants
© Copyright 2013 Discovery Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Discovery Education Inc. is a subsidiary of Discovery Communications, LLC.
STANDARDS CORRELATION
The National Science Teachers Association provides guidelines for teaching science in grades K12 to promote scientific literacy. To view the standards, adapted from the National Research
Council (NRC) framework (A Framework for K–12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting
Concepts, and Core Ideas, NRC 2011) download this PDF:
http://www.nsta.org/about/standardsupdate/resources/201112_Framework-Bybee.pdf
Standards addressed in this lesson include:
1. Scientific and Engineering Practices
Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
Planning and carrying out investigations
Analyzing and interpreting data
Using mathematics and computational thinking
Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
Engaging in argument from evidence
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
2. Crosscutting Concepts
Patterns
Scale, proportion, and quantity
Systems and system models
MATERIALS
Teacher
Small amounts of dusty material (e.g., flour, baby or talcum powder, etc.)
Student Materials
Construction paper
Double-sided tape
Hand-held lens (magnifier)
Long rubber band
Microscope (optional)
Pencil, sharp
Petroleum jelly
Plastic knife
Ruler
Scissors
Wax paper
White paper
© Copyright 2013 Discovery Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Discovery Education Inc. is a subsidiary of Discovery Communications, LLC.
Teacher Prep
Pre-cut the pieces of construction paper and wax paper if you do not wish the students
to use scissors.
Construct the dust catcher beforehand for students to observe the finished apparatus.
NOTE: This activity will not expose students to any more household dust than normal. However,
if students are prone to airborne allergies, provide dust masks and gloves as appropriate.
PROCEDURE
Note: For this activity, students can work individually or in small groups.
Session 1
In this session, students are introduced to the problem of household dust, and will construct dust
collectors.
1. Ask the class if any of them has sneezed or coughed today. You’re sorry if anyone has a
cold, but did anyone sneeze who doesn’t have a cold? Ask students what could cause
sneezing?
2. Write the word “allergy” on the board.
3. Ask students to write a sentence, word group or other representation of the word.
4. Explain that allergies are a common cause of sneezing, runny nose and even headaches.
Write the word “allergen” next to the word “allergy.” Explain that allergens are things
that cause allergic reactions.
5. Have students brainstorm causes of allergic reactions. Lead them to realize that
symptoms such as hay fever are the result of airborne allergens such as pollen.
6. Point out that many allergies are caused by dust particles.
7. Ask students if it would it be helpful to know about dust, especially in the home.
8. Create a bit of dust using the flour and talcum powder or chalkboard eraser (if
available).
9. Instruct students that they will create devices to catch dust in the environment. The
basic set-up is to place test cards in appropriate places and allow these to collect dust.
The cards will then be examined and compared for the amount of dust. The students
can experiment to determine the best shape and placement of their dust collectors.
© Copyright 2013 Discovery Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Discovery Education Inc. is a subsidiary of Discovery Communications, LLC.
10. Instruct students to create their dust catcher as follows:
a. Cut a piece of the construction paper, 15 x 15 cm square.
b. Cut a square of the graph paper, 10 x 10 cm.
c. Use the sharp pencil to carefully draw a grid of 1 x 1 cm squares on the white
paper.
d. Cut four lengths of double-sided sticky tape about 8 cm long and place these
along the edges of the reverse side of the white paper.
e. Center and stick the white paper onto the construction paper.
f.
Cut a square of the wax paper, 11 x 11 cm.
g. Cut four lengths of double-sided sticky tape about 9 cm long and place these
along the edges of the wax paper. Center and stick the wax paper onto the
construction paper, so that the wax paper is covering the white paper square.
h. Take a pea-sized portion of the petroleum jelly and use the plastic knife to
spread it over the square of wax paper. Try to spread the jelly as thinly as
possible, and to cover all the surface of the wax paper. Discard any excess jelly.
11. The dust collector can now be placed at various locations to test for the presence of
dust.
12. Students can experiment with orienting their dust collectors such as horizontally or
vertically. For example, a place that has airflow, such as near a window, might have little
dust on a horizontal surface, while collecting more dust on a vertical surface. The
opposite might be true for a location with little airflow. The aim is to have students think
about how they can experiment.
13. If students want to transport their dust collectors to a different location, such as their
home, they can carefully roll up the construction paper and secure the roll with a rubber
band. However, once the dust collector has been placed in its location it should not be
moved.
Session 2
In this session, students will conduct observations to quantify the results from their dust
collectors.
1. After a suitable amount of time (a minimum of a week is recommended, two or three
weeks is ideal), have students examine their dust collectors.
2. Students can begin with visual observations, and then continue with the hand lens.
© Copyright 2013 Discovery Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Discovery Education Inc. is a subsidiary of Discovery Communications, LLC.
3. Have students choose 10 squares randomly to conduct their observation to avoid any
bias. There are 100 squares in the grid, which can be assigned a number 1 through 100.
4. Explain to students that random sampling is necessary, otherwise they may choose to
count squares that have fewer or more particles, and this would bias the results. (Note:
They can create 10 random numbers between 1 and 100 using a spreadsheet’s RAND
function.)
5. Have students use the hand lens to count the number of dust particles inside the 10
random squares.
6. Encourage students to suggest ways to present their data. Ensure that their visualization
includes the location of the dust collector and the number of particles. For example, a
bar chart with the location on the X-axis and the number of particles on the Y-axis could
be one approach.
Session 3
In this session, students will determine the origin of dust, and propose solutions to reduce dust.
1. Have students use a microscope (if available) to closely observe one or two particles of
dust. (They may need to carefully move the dust particle onto a slide, or they can use a
low-power microscope to examine the dust collector directly.)
2. Encourage students to describe their observations, first in writing, and then with a
drawing. Emphasize that their descriptions should be detailed enough for their fellow
students to understand what they are seeing.
3. Have students use their observations to suggest where dust might come from. Some of
the particles may be recognizable. Explain to students that some dust may come from
skin particles.
4. Have students collect dusty substances from known sources, such as flour, chalk dust,
baking soda or baby powder. Ask if the dusty substances bears resemblance to the
particles observed from their dust collectors.
5. Have students write a brief report of their findings.
© Copyright 2013 Discovery Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Discovery Education Inc. is a subsidiary of Discovery Communications, LLC.
EXTENSIONS
Have students brainstorm solutions to reduce dust. Groups can create a concept map
with all they have learned about dust. Prompt students to add methods of dust control
to their concept maps. For example, they might know that most buildings have dust
filters or that air purifiers are available. Encourage them to think of new or high-tech
solutions (such as ionizing devices) to collect and control dust.
Have students create individual videos for the 2013 Discovery Education 3M Young
Scientist Challenge! To learn more about the 2013 Challenge, go to
YoungScientistChallenge.com.
Additional Resources
U.S. National Library of Medicine: Allergic rhinitis
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001816/
Discovery Education: Allergies v. Viruses
http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-plans/allergies-v-viruses.cfm
A Century of Innovation: The 3M Storybook
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?OOOOOQqV2&BoHTPphtipItPOArqMA&qV1
r5OAr5OAOOOOOO-3M/Discovery Education Science of Everyday Life
http://scienceofeverydaylife.com/
3M Innovation
http://solutions.3m.com/innovation/
EVALUATION
Have students review each other’s observations and their documentation of their observations.
Even if a specific observation did not show much dust, good experimental procedures and
documentation of the test process should receive recognition.
You can assign students with scores as indicated by the following criteria.
© Copyright 2013 Discovery Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Discovery Education Inc. is a subsidiary of Discovery Communications, LLC.
Three points: Thoroughly researched factual information about dust and related
problems using credible sources; readily followed instructions to create and locate dust
collector; clear understanding of method used to choose squares for observation; good
representation of data from observations made with dust collector.
Two points: Adequately researched factual information about dust and related
problems using credible sources; some difficulty following instructions to create and
locate dust collector; some understanding of method used to choose squares for
observation; adequate representation of data from observations made with dust
collector.
One point: Unable to research factual information about dust and related problems
using credible sources; unable to follow instructions to create and locate dust collector;
unable to understand method used to choose squares for observation; unable to
represent data from observations made with dust collector.
© Copyright 2013 Discovery Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Discovery Education Inc. is a subsidiary of Discovery Communications, LLC.
Student Activity Sheet: How we Live
Fuss About Dust
During this lesson, students investigate how to estimate the amount of dust in the air. Dust
collectors help to quantify the amount of dust. Use the data from your observations to compare
dust levels in different parts of the home or classroom. But just collecting data is the first step in
the scientific process. The most important step is to interpret your observations. Then you can
make recommendations or suggestions about how to reduce dust in the air. To help you think
about the problem and the solution, answer the following questions.
Why is dust a problem?
Are some kinds of dust more of a problem than other kinds of dust?
What ways could you improve your dust collector?
Why is it important to not move the dust collector once it is in its location?
When you examine the dust collector for particles, why is it important to choose 10 random
squares to conduct your examination?
© Copyright 2013 Discovery Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Discovery Education Inc. is a subsidiary of Discovery Communications, LLC.
Use this space to present your data.
Describe whether any of the particles from known sources resemble those you observed in the
dust collector. Explain what this might tell you about the composition of dust.
© Copyright 2013 Discovery Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Discovery Education Inc. is a subsidiary of Discovery Communications, LLC.