Reading- Experimental Design and the Importance of Masks

Objectives/purpose:

1. I can explain why wearing a mask is effective in stopping the spread of COVID-19.
2. I can identify parts of the experimental design process.
3. I can evaluate experimental design.

Directions:
Watch the video linked below, and then complete a first reading. During the 1st reading, start by
numbering the paragraphs. Next, read the article and highlight vocabulary you don’t know/that is
important to the reading AND two sentences that you think represent the main idea of the article.

Video Link:
https://www.khq.com/news/khq-investigates-how-effective-is-a-mask/video_e308a1e8-b74f-11ea-ac
6d-878bd6f54032.html

1st Reading: How Effective is a Mask?

If anyone heard a song from the Broadway play Hamilton emanating from the lab at Providence Sacred
Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, it was likely from a test being conducted on the
effectiveness of face masks in blocking flying respiratory droplets.

Rich Davis, microbiology director for the Sacred Heart Laboratory, published a visual demonstration on
Twitter that vividly shows how masks and social distancing help contain the spreading of “big, fat, wet
respiratory droplets,” and potentially of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing COVID-19), which is known to
spread through those droplets.

Davis performed four everyday actions, all of which are “opportunities for large droplets of spit and
stuff from your respiratory tract to get out into the environment.” He coughed, sneezed, talked, and
sang at identical petri dishes, firing bacteria from his mouth onto a gel that grows bacteria. This created
a visual representation of the amount of bacteria that can reach another human being when a person is
masked or unmasked.

These are harmless bacteria that he says “live happily, secretly in your mouth, your nose, your throat.”
The coronavirus is, of course, caused by a virus, not bacteria. But this can be a model for the
coronavirus, which we know is spread primarily through inhaling or touching those beads of saliva.

The results were as expected, and in line with CDC guidelines: The masked test didn’t produce any
visible droplets on the gel in any of the instances, while the unmasked tests produced large quantities
of droplets. The most droplets came from sneezing, followed by coughing, then talking and singing,
which generated about the same amount of spittle. See the results in images of the test below.
In a separate social distancing test, he coughed for 15 seconds at two, four, and six feet from the dishes.
As the distance increased, fewer and fewer droplets landed on the gel. At six feet, the recommended
range for social distancing, there was just one visible droplet from an unmasked cough.

Davis is fully aware of the limitations of his experiment—in fact, he doesn’t call it an experiment, rather
a demonstration, because he’s the only data point, and he knew the outcome going in. It can’t account
for what others would produce—”would their cough be as wet?”—although his second data point, local
reporter Kevin Kim, produced similar results.

Followers on Twitter had a few questions. Davis admitted he had to fake a sneeze because the age-old
pepper-induced sneeze only served to make his eyes watery. For the singing test, he gave a rendition of
“Dear Theodosia” from the musical Hamilton. (Kim, the reporter, belted out Tupac’s “Changes” and
Smashmouth’s “All Star”; the Tupac track produced more droplets.) He included singing because a choir
rehearsal in Washington State in March was one of the first known “super-spreader” events, infecting
52 people.

Increasing the volume or length of talking or singing would likely increase the number of droplets,
meaning it’s easy to see how other events with singing or cheering could become super-spreader
events.

The point of the demo, Davis stresses, is not to criticize people who haven’t been following best
practices; they might have bad information or just been pushed by politicization. “Shame is a really bad
practice for helping encourage good public health decisions,” he says. Instead, officials need to make
more masks available and normalize their use.

After 1st Reading

Words I didn’t understand in the article or video that I want my teacher to help me understand:

The two sentences I highlighted are:

Pictures of Experimental Results
Read the article above a 2nd time: Purpose- to identify the two demonstrations that
were completed, and their variables and controls. As you read you will:
Underline: The two demonstrations
* the variables
? next to questions you still have.

Scientific Vocabulary Words: Use these to help you on the second reading.

Experiment- a carefully planned test used to discover or confirm evidence to support or reject a
hypothesis

Independent Variable- The variable that is manipulated/changed by the experimenter.

Dependent Variable- The variable that responds to the experimental changes. The results of the
experiment. What you observe or measure.

Control variable(s)- A control variable in an experiment is a variable that is kept the same so it
does not interfere with the experimental question. This increases the reliability of the results by
isolating the independent variable, making sure it is the only thing that could be causing a change
in the dependent variable.

After Reading the Article a Second Time

1) Demonstration 1: (5 points)

Describe the
demonstration:

Question being asked:

Independent variable(s):

Dependent variable(s):

Control variables (look

back at pictures too):

2) Demonstration 2: (5 points)

Describe the
demonstration:

Question being asked:

 Independent variable(s):

Dependent variable(s):

Control variables (look

back at pictures too):

3.) List 3 ways you could make this research better. (2 points)
a.
b.
c.

4.) Why were two demonstrations done separately, instead of testing type of expulsion and
distance at the same time? (2 points)

Conclusion: (5 points)

1) Why are masks important in preventing the spread of COVID-19?

2) What did you learn about experimental design today?