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Can Buildings Make You Sick?
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Viewing Ideas
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Before Watching
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Explain to students that this program deals with the issue of
air quality. Ask students to suggest some tests people might
conduct and some locations where investigators might go to study
air quality. Make a list of student responses on the board. Then
tell students that the program will investigate the problem of
indoor air quality. How might a study of indoor air quality be
different from or similar to the students' predictions about
tests of air quality?
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One of the reasons that sick building syndrome is so difficult
to investigate is that people's symptoms are often relatively
mild or can result from a variety of causes. Ask students to
think of methods or questions that would help scientists focus
their investigations of people's complaints. As they watch the
videotape, have students think about how they would collect data
from people working in a sick building to identify possible
causes of the problem.
After Watching
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Based on what students have seen and heard, what do they think
are the most common features in the buildings that cause people
to get sick? Make a checklist of these features (such as fumes
from new carpeting, inadequate ventilation, and mold in vents),
then challenge the students to find out if any of these sick
building features are present in your school building. Divide
the class into teams and assign a different area of the building
to each team. Have the students investigate their areas using
their checklists and report back to the class.
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Ask students what they know about radon and carbon monoxide.
Both of these gases can accumulate indoors and reach dangerous
levels under certain circumstances. Test kits for both
substances are available at many hardware stores. You may want
to purchase test kits to show to the class and to raise
students' awareness of these potentially dangerous gases.
Explain to students that test kits should be put in places where
these gases are most likely to occur, such as garages and
basements.
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