Dust Trap
Equipment:
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Fieldbook
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Papers
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Pens
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Double sided cellotape
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Scissors
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Blu Tac
What is a dust trap?
A strip of sticky tape on a piece of paper that is going to collect dust from the air
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Setting the trap:
​Select 3 to 4 locations where you would like to set a trap (example locations: lounge in your house, school car park)
Pick out one paper per location and write down the name of the location, date, time on each piece of paper. If you are doing this at school, also note down your name on the paper.
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On each piece of these labelled papers, stick a long strip of double sided cellotape under your labels. (Ask your teacher/ parent/guardian to cut these cellotape pieces for you)
How to deploy?
​Using a small piece of blu-tac, stick your papers on a flat wall/window in your chosen location. (Make sure the labels match the location)Leave them out for as long as you think is appropriate (at least a week).
What to record?
Each day you could record whether you think each of your traps are not dusty, kind of dusty or very dusty.
Fill in the observations record sheet with this information.
Fill this only when you set a new trap!
Make sure that that your trap has been set in the location when you take a photo
Observations:
Record your observations each day or as often as you like using the form below. These observations are sent to your teacher.
If you are repeating the experiment, try keeping the traps out for a longer period of time, maybe two weeks?
How to retrieve?
When you decide to take them down, take a photo of each of your traps from each location. Try to click a photo so that the name of the location is visible in the photo along with the tape.
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What is your final assessment?
Once you have finished taking down your traps, ask your teacher for all your recorded observations.
Using this information, try and answer the following questions
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Where did you trap most and least amount of dust? Can you think of reasons for this difference?
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Do you think you will get different results if you repeated the activity in same locations for longer period, shorter period or same period of time?
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Can you think of any ways to improve this activity? OR if you were to repeat the activity, what would you do differently?
Once you have thought about these questions, fill in the below form to submit your final remarks on the activity.
We would love to see the colours on your traps from various locations! Please do upload them below
Know the science behind it
How does this work?
Our air contains very tiny particles. These tiny particles can blow with the wind and move around but will eventually settle on surfaces like walls, floors and furniture. Double sided tape acts as a ‘glue’ for the particles and traps them on the surface. If there are enough particles, you can start to see them.
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How do these particles get in the air?
Particles are released due to many activities such as, moving cars, burning wood or coal, cooking, clothing fibre or even animal hair! Can you think of any more? Particles are released in the air even when we are kicking the ball around on a hot day in the park! Why not might that be? Why not do some research or start a discussion on seesaw.
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How does the weather affect it all?
If the winds are strong, they keep mixing and swirling the particles around! Low temperatures and calm winds are perfect conditions for the particles to settle down. If it rains heavily, it washes the particles out of the atmosphere.
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Are they harmful?
Too much of anything is bad! But some particles are more harmful than others.
If you want to know more, start a discussion on seesaw blog!