Air Junk What’s in your air?

Down and Dirty with Dust Did you know… Dust turns sunsets orange and red Can make you sick Is caused by various sources And causes dust mites that feed on house dust

Is your house speck free? If you wanted to test your house for dust what would you do? How can those little particles be caught? Do you think you can really test for dust? Let the kids brainstorm to see if they can come up with a possible way to test for dust.

Airborne Junk Detectors

An 8” by 10” of cardboard or stiff paper 6 pieces of transparent tape One light string per collector about 12” long Tape to hang the collector string A magnifying glass

Now What? Take the pattern provided and cut 6 collectors. Fold and cut out the inside window. Write the location, starting date, and time on each collector. Cover the window of the collector with sticky tape. Make sure the sticky part is pointed up or out. http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/airjunk/template.html Teachers go to website and print out pattern or have students go to website to print it.

Now where to hang Some examples of places to hang your collector might be: Above your bed Near a heating vent Under a tree Near the main door

What’s next Once you have hanged your collector you should allow it to sit there. Write down the date and time you took it down. Be sure not to touch the sticky stuff!! Be sure to tell the students how long to let their collectors hang.

Now let’s look at what you found! This is a great time to expand on the topic and develop a group discussion on what they see.