As three-dimensional printers are starting to become more common in science, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), and Fab labs, recent research indicates that 3-D printers pose serious health and safety concerns.

The research shows that commercial 3-D printers were producing hazardous levels of ultrafine particles (UFPs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) when plastic materials were melted through the printer (Love and Roy 2016). When inhaled, UFPs (particles less than 100 nanometers in diameter), can enter the brain or blood system in less than one minute. Organs such as the liver and spleen can be vulnerable. Diseases associated with the absorption of UFPs include asthma, bronchitis, cancer, and tracheitis.

When using 3-D printers, science teachers and their students can keep out of harm’s way by following these five strategies (Love and Roy 2016).

1. Science teachers should share this blog post with their school’s chemical hygiene officer, facilities director, department head, and administrators. Teachers should request an air-quality analysis of the lab space while a 3-D printer is operating. The results should be able to determine whether the current air filtration system meets the federal, state, or locally mandated air changes per hour (ACH) rate. The ACH is the air volume of the instructional space divided by the volume of the space. An increased ACH rate is needed when a lab is exposed to carcinogens and other hazardous chemicals or particles.

2. When operating 3-D printers, make sure ventilation properly filters gas and particles.

3. To avoid exposure to hazardous UFPs and VOCs, operate 3-D printers in fume hoods or spray booths. Note: The National Fire Protection Association’s 45 standard requires annual inspection of fume hoods to ensure they are working properly.

4. Whenever possible, use PLAs (polylactic acid) plastics instead of ABSs (acrylonitrile vutadiene styrene) when using your 3-D printer. Research has shown that PLAs generate UFP concentrations that are 3 to 30 times lower than those generated by ABS plastics (Merlo and Mazzoni 2015). This is because ABS plastics are oil based and have a much higher melting point than biodegradable PLAs. Both of these factors contribute to the higher UFP concentrations.

5. Follow the latest research on UFPs and 3-D printing through internet searches. Also be sure to keep stakeholders, such as administrators and chemical hygiene officers, in the loop.

In the end

If inhaled, UFPs carry the same detrimental effects of smoking. Make sure you and your students have appropriate ventilation to reduce or eliminate exposures to these hazardous UFPs.

Submit questions regarding safety in K–12 to Ken Roy at safesci@sbcglobal.net, or leave him a comment below. Follow Ken Roy on Twitter: @drroysafersci.

References
Love, T., and K. Roy. 2016. 3D printing: What’s the harm? Technology and Engineering Teacher 76 (1): 36–37. www.iteea.org/File.aspx?id=96734.
Merlo, F., and S. Mazzoni. 2015. Gas evolution during FDM 3D printing and health impact. 3D Safety. www.3dsafety.org/3dsafety/download/mf2015_eng.pdf

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After a recent observation, my supervisor commented that the students did not seem engaged in the activity. I was surprised because the students were busy working. How can you tell if students are really “engaged”? —P., Oklahoma

Ask your supervisor what he or she saw (or did not see). What indicators would have determined “engagement” in your class? How does this differ from your observation of being busy?

In the meantime, here’s some food for thought. I asked at a workshop: Can you be visibly busy but not intellectually engaged in a task? The attendees generally responded yes, with examples of chores such as housecleaning.

The follow-up question required more thought: Can you be intellectually engaged without being visibly busy? We had a great discussion on creativity, reflecting, and thinking about a topic but appearing to others as daydreaming or not paying attention (i.e., not busy).

I found it was easy to keep students visibly busy with low-level tasks (filling in a worksheet, following directions in a cookbook lab activity). They usually complied with my instructions.

But students had a motivation beyond compliance during other activities—especially those that involved student choices, challenges, creativity, or other higher level thinking. I noticed several indicators of this in my middle school classes, including:

• Electricity and excitement in the classroom (unquantifiable, but you’ll know it when it happens);
• Conversations such as “What if we try this”, “I wonder…”;
• “Bums” in the air— during cooperative activities, students pushed the desks together and some were kneeling on the chairs or bending over the tables to get their heads closer to their partners
• Fewer requests for the restrooms or water fountains

And best of all – “Is class over already? Can we finish this tomorrow?”

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/xevivarela/4610711363/sizes/o/in/photostream/

This week friends who live on opposite sides of the country messaged me to go look at the Moon and a bright “star” in the southern skies, the planet Venus. The Geminid meteor shower is also happening but the urban light pollution in my area plus the full Moon makes seeing a meteor unlikely. Still I will spend some time watching the sky tonight before bedtime (thanks Bob King!).

It’s nice to have friends who share my interests—science and beauty. Children especially want to have an adult acknowledge their discoveries, stories and significant moments. When one child points out the special features of his shoes (“new,” “sparkly,” “lace-up”), the rest quickly chime in with observations about their shoes. After listening to a classmate telling about the bird she saw, others will share their stories of birds spotted. Outdoors children make discoveries and observations that are new to them. Adults may not be interested in that slug or the way water drops hang at the edges of a leaf but these are powerful moments to show you care about the child, demonstrate how to ask questions, share your own experience, suggest a source of information or a direction for further exploration.

As authors Amy Laura Dombro, Judy R. Jablon, and Charlotte Stetson note, “What you say and do matters.” In their book, Powerful Interactions: How to Connect with Children to Extend Their Learning, they describe forming relationships and how to “use your relationship to stretch knowledge, skills and understanding together.”

How can we make opportunities to observe natural phenomena such as the Moon available to all children?

“When can you see a daytime moon?” By Deborah Byrd, EarthSky

♦Taking a short nature walk at the beginning or end of recess is one way to incorporate more time to interact with nature. The Moon is sometimes visible during the day—an event that can be noted on the class calendar or documented with drawings. We can ask children to talk about whatever they have noticed while outside on school grounds and later take the class outside to see or experience it for themselves.

♦Making brief daily weather observation discussions part of a circle time or morning meeting adds scientific data collection to the day. As one teacher noted in the NSTA Learning Center Early Childhood Forum, children will begin to notice patterns if the daily observations are graphed. The question, “What are some ways or activities to teach kindergartners about weather patterns?” was posted in the Early Childhood Forum under “Weather and Elementary.” One educator responded, “Each week, a new student is picked as “weather reporter” and the weather for each day is observed, discussed, and graphed. The students really seem to understand the difference between kinds of weather and are able to identify all types. I have found the weather graph and the weather discussion during our calendar time to be very beneficial to the students…When children are aware of what is happening, they begin to notice patterns. It is interesting to compare graphs from week to week and month to month. We say, ‘Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get.’”

♦Early childhood educators can let their students’ families know about books at the public library that feature topics related to current topics of conversation and learning at school.

♦Gardening at school can involve children in experiencing natural phenomena such as soil structure, pattern of sunlight and shade, relationships between insects and plants, and life cycles of plants. My butterfly garden always includes collards because they are a preferred larval food for the caterpillars of Cabbage White butterflies. Cabbage whites are the seasonally early and late butterflies in my region, making them ideal for observing more than once during a school year. You can read the April 2007 Early Years column, “Collards and Caterpillars,” on the NSTA Learning Center—it’s free to non-members too!

Sources for information about the night and day sky

Astro Bob: Celestial happenings you can see from your own backyard.

https://astrobob.areavoices.com/

Astronomy magazine

http://www.astronomy.com/observing/sky-this-week/2016/12/the-sky-this-week-for-december-8-to-december-18

EarthSky blog

http://earthsky.org/

Sky and Telescope magazine

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/