A Teacher's Story

Kristin Klenk and her 9^th Grade Classes

Ms. Kristin Klenk, a High School Science Teacher at South Kingstown High School in Rhode Island , was trained in 2002. Her account follows.

During the 2002 summer break, I took a course at the University of Rhode Island, Space Dust. I was looking for ways to incorporate "real science" into my curriculum. The write-up for the course sounded as though it would provide that opportunity and I was not disappointed.

At the end of the course Dan and Jim provided me with the basic materials necessary to collect and process dust. I was able to procure the other materials from my science department. The November Leonid meteor shower provided a perfect opportunity to introduce the project to my students. The Leonid meteor shower took place in late November, peaking on November 19^th. Several kids got up that night to observe and their accounts sparked the interest of the others. The possibility of collecting micrometeorites was exciting, even though at the time they had very little knowledge of what they were and where they came from. It was a week after the shower before we got the flat collectors set out. On November 26, each one of my four ninth grade Earth Science classes put out a flat collector in our courtyard. Right from the start the kids were pretty excited and enthusiastic. The plan was to leave them up over night, but it snowed. The next day, another class collected the snow and reset the collectors. A third class gathered the flat collectors on December 2^nd.

I had to make a classroom management plan and schedule time to process the samples. I tested to make sure that the analyzing process would work with my equipment. Each of my four classes processed their collectors in one class period. The students were still not sure what dust and micrometeorites were, so we spent a class period researching the topic on the Internet. As ninth graders, these students had very little experience actually identifying anything under a microscope. I had them acclimate themselves by first looking at colors and shapes. On the second day they quantified colors, estimating the percentage of the colors that they saw in one grid square. Because they knew the basic characteristics of micrometeorites, they also decided whether particles were biological, rock/mineral, or possible micrometeorites. The students were very motivated and as soon as they heard about the first possible find, everyone got much more serious. In three of the four classes, students found and photographed possible micrometeorites. We were able to show everyone the specimens with a microscope and monitor. They were small, spherical, black, and pitted. It was very exciting and I was impressed that the kids were able to find them.

This ended the experimental side of the project. We went on to discuss our findings, graph the percentage data and make hypotheses about the particles that we saw. We decided that we were seeing quartz, micas and feldspar based on shape and color. One of the roofs of our school is covered in gravel and there is a fair amount of sediment on the ground in the courtyard. It had been very windy during the time the flat collectors were out.  Significantly, it was students who suggested “We should put collectors out in other locations to see if there’s a difference.” We also decided that we were seeing a lot of charred wood bits. I brought in dust from around my woodstove and it seemed to match what we were seeing. There were very few plant or animal specimens, in keeping with the time of year. The micrometeorites were still a possibility, but that would obviously depend on further investigation.

            The students were required to write a formal lab report. We spent time in class discussing our findings and I gave the students an outline based upon our discussion. One of my classes has a fair number of immature boys and unenthusiastic girls. I wasn't sure how they would respond to the writing assignment. They had been very enthusiastic about the project so far, but writing is another thing. I was pleasantly surprised by their efforts. They produced some of their best work of the year and the majority of students completed the assignment on time.

            Dan, Jim, and I took the samples to the Sensors and Surface Technology lab at URI. We were able to analyze two of the possible micrometeorites. Energy dispersive spectrography showed that they were primarily carbon, and scanning electron microscopy showed them to be round, porous, spheres, 60 and 40 µm in diameter. Although they were not micrometeorites, their frothy round shapes were fascinating. I had stressed that these samples would have value regardless of the outcome. They represent what was in the air during that specific time in the past.

            I had been concerned about two potential problems during our effort. The thought of the dust flying off the filters was always on my mind. And I wondered if we could relocate the possible micrometeorites later on. The analysis protocol stresses that samples are not to be washed after filtration. This was really very clever because the small amount of forensic tape adhesive remaining stuck the dust to the filters even after being jostled about by many ninth graders. We were able to relocate the specimens using the SEM.

            In retrospect, this has been a tremendous project for my students. They conducted a real experiment with an unknown outcome. They used the inquiry method to construct their own understanding of this topic and have written an authentic assessment report based on their findings. They started thinking on their own and came up with valid thoughts and critiques of the experiment. The final component for us this year will be to videoconference with the SEM technician at URI. This will allow the kids to go on a virtual field trip of the lab to see the final step in the research process.