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Breaking the Mold

Using the Video in Your Classroom

After Viewing the Video

Internet Investigations

These open-ended questions will inspire students to do further online research on subjects that are related to the video. Assign this reproducible page to your students as a homework or library research project.


My House is Killing Me and Other Books

One of the books the librarian sets aside for Kee is called "My House is Killing Me" by Jeffrey C. May. Have students look for this book and others related to indoor air pollution. Ask students to research books related to indoor air pollution and write a three-paragraph review of whichever book they choose. You may wish to reproduce and distribute the list of book resources to guide students' library research.


Scientific Inquiry

In order to solve the mold mystery, Kee follows the process of scientific inquiry.

  1. Make an observation—Kee noticed she had an asthma attack.
  2. Develop a hypothesis—The Realville house is making her sick…maybe the bathroom?
  3. Use the hypothesis to make predictions—Other people will get sick if the problem isn't solved.
  4. Test those predictions by experiments or further observations—Book and Internet research confirmed the possibility that the wet bathroom could have caused a mold problem, which might have made Kee sick. When Kee observed that Dara was also sick, it validated her prediction. Investigating the scene and revealing the mold was the final proof of her theory.
  5. Form a conclusion—Toxic mold in the Realville bathroom caused Kee's asthma attack. The building must be evacuated and the problem cleaned up so that more people won't get sick.
Discuss the idea that questioning, researching, testing, and forming conclusions are integral to the process of science. Review the above steps Kee went through in the video to carry out her scientific inquiry. Then invite students to practice scientific methodology by performing their own mold-growing experiment.


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BREAKING THE MOLD | INSIDE STORIES | Water + ? = Trouble