A Citizen Science Facemask Experiment and Educational Modules to Improve Coronavirus Safety in Communities and Schools

Eichler, Sarah E.; Hopperton, Austin; Alava, Juan José; Pereira, António; Ahmed, Rukhsana; Kozlakidis, Zisis; Ilić, Sanja; Rodriguez-Palacios, Alexander

doi:10.3389/fmed.2020.00486

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…The construction of materials, the maintenance of an interactive website, smartphone apps, and continuous email contact requires considerable resources, especially in terms of staff with relevant experience in science and education. More recent projects like the School of Ants (Lucky et al, 2014 ), LandSense (Olteanu-Raimond et al, 2018 ), and eMammal (Schuttler et al, 2019 ) have mirrored the success of these large-scale schools projects, while national schools-based citizen science projects in the future are likely to tackle aspects of post-pandemic life (Eichler et al, 2020 ; Ugolini et al, 2020 ). Smaller contributory projects sometimes lack such infrastructure and resources and, consequently, participants are often only involved in data collection without gaining experience of the complete inquiry process (Jenkins et al, 2015 ).…”

Section: Challenges For Citizen Science Education and Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Citizen Science, Education, and Learning: Challenges and Opportunities

et al. 2020

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Citizen science is a growing field of research and practice, generating new knowledge and understanding through the collaboration of citizens in scientific research. As the field expands, it is becoming increasingly important to consider its potential to foster education and learning opportunities. Although progress has been made to support learning in citizen science projects, as well as to facilitate citizen science in formal and informal learning environments, challenges still arise. This paper identifies a number of dilemmas facing the field—from competing scientific goals and learning outcomes, differing underlying ontologies and epistemologies, diverging communication strategies, to clashing values around advocacy and activism. Although such challenges can become barriers to the successful integration of citizen science into mainstream education systems, they also serve as signposts for possible synergies and opportunities. One of the key emerging recommendations is to align educational learning outcomes with citizen science project goals at the planning stage of the project using co-creation approaches to ensure issues of accessibility and inclusivity are paramount throughout the design and implementation of every project. Only then can citizen science realise its true potential to empower citizens to take ownership of their own science education and learning.

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Section: Challenges For Citizen Science Education and Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Citizen Science, Education, and Learning: Challenges and Opportunities

et al. 2020

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“…In particular, it is of paramount importance that the widespread understanding of facemask use and its effectiveness at preventing and controlling COVID-19 transmission is promoted through public health safety and education campaigns in communities and schools. 16 …”

Section: What Lessons Has Ecuador Learned That Are Of Value To Other Latin American Countries?mentioning

confidence: 99%

A critical narrative of Ecuador’s preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Alava¹,

Guevara²

2021

Public Health in Practice

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“…(D) Speech experiment repeat by human volunteer with and without a face cover as illustrated, quantified droplet contamination density of between 0.5 and 4 droplets/cm 2 after counting numbers from 1 to 100, and prevention of surface contamination using a single textile layer/barrier. The apple on the agar is to provide a visual and spatial context of the relevance of face covering during speech over food displays/service settings, and to provide the context for a citizen science project we have proposed for adults and children to use the spray simulation model to test the efficacy of face coverings and numerous household textiles available in their homes (see links to websites and educational modules in Spanish, French, English, and Portuguese in Eichler et al, in ref ( 35 ). The apple was washed and clean with cloth and ethanol 70% before placed on agar.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To promote such efforts, this and our preceding complementary study21 have been used as the foundation to create educational research activities amenable for children and adults, at school and at home, and a citizen science facemask experiment project concurrently launched in multiple languages (Spanish, French. Portuguese and English) to promote COVID-19/coronavirus safety and droplet science awareness ( 35 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Germ-Free Mice Under Two-Layer Textiles Are Fully Protected From Bacteria in Sprayed Microdroplets: A Functional in vivo Test Method of Facemask/Filtration Materials

2020

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Several studies have measured the effectiveness of masks at retaining particles of various sizes in vitro . To identify a functional in vivo model, herein we used germ-free (GF) mice to test the effectiveness of textiles as filtration material and droplet barriers to complement available in vitro -based knowledge. Herein, we report a study conducted in vivo with bacteria-carrying microdroplets to determine to what extent household textiles prevent contamination of GF mice in their environment. Using a recently validated spray-simulation method (mimicking a sneeze), herein we first determined that combed-cotton textiles used as two-layer-barriers covering the mouse cages prevented the contamination of all GF animals when sprayed 10–20 bacterial-droplet units/cm 2 . In additional to exposure trials, the model showed that GF mice were again protected by the combed-cotton textile after the acute exposure to 10 times more droplets (20 “spray-sneezes”, ~200 bacterial-droplet units/cm 2 ). Overall, two-layer combed-cotton protected 100% of the GF mice from bacteria-carrying droplets ( n = 20 exposure-events), which was significantly superior compared to 100% mouse contamination without textile coverage or when 95% partly covered ( n = 18, Fisher-exact, p < 0.0001). Of relevance is that two different densities of cotton were equally effective (100%) in preventing contamination regardless of density (120–vs. 200 g/m 2 ; T -test, p = 0.0028), suggesting that similar density materials could prevent droplet contamination. As a practical message, we conducted a speech trial (counting numbers, 1–100) with/without the protection of the same cotton textile used as face cover. The trial illustrated that contamination of surfaces occurs at a rate of >2–6 bacteria-carrying saliva-droplets per word (2.6 droplets/cm 2 , 30 cm) when speaking at 60–70 decibels and that cotton face covers fully prevent bacterial surface contamination.

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A Citizen Science Facemask Experiment and Educational Modules to Improve Coronavirus Safety in Communities and Schools

Cited by 9 publications

References 43 publications

Citizen Science, Education, and Learning: Challenges and Opportunities

Citizen Science, Education, and Learning: Challenges and Opportunities

A critical narrative of Ecuador’s preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Germ-Free Mice Under Two-Layer Textiles Are Fully Protected From Bacteria in Sprayed Microdroplets: A Functional in vivo Test Method of Facemask/Filtration Materials

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