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.
- Make an observation—Kee noticed she had an asthma
attack.
- Develop a hypothesis—The Realville house is making
her sick…maybe the bathroom?
- Use the hypothesis to make predictions—Other people
will get sick if the problem isn't solved.
- 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.
- 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.
