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The next morning, my uncle looked awful! His eyes were red, and his nose was all stuffy. We didn't know he was so allergic to cats! Neither did he! |
There are all sorts of things people can be allergic to. Sometimes, they don't even know it! These are called "allergens." |
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To find out for sure, make your own pollen catcher. |
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3 or 4 white index cards, or stiff white paper cut into 3"x5" sheets |
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A ball-point pen |
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Petroleum jelly |
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String |
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A magnifying glass (optional) |
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Catch some pollen! If you're doing this experiment in a group, each of you should take one index card and write your name on the side with the lines. If you're alone, you may want to make three or four cards so that you can collect more data. |
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With the ball-point pen, poke a hole at the top of the card. |
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Cut several pieces of string about 2 feet long. Tie one end of each string to an index card. |
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 Rub
some petroleum jelly all over the plain sides of the cards. Try to
keep the jelly side of the cards as clean as possible. |
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 Tie
the cards to different things outside. Tie them to trees, to a fence,
by a window, and near flowers - as long as the pollen catcher gets some
outside air. |
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After two or three days, collect your pollen catches and look at what they've caught. |
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Which ones caught the most pollen? What else did you find on your pollen catchers? |
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Pollen comes
from flowering plants. The pollen from one flower fertilizes another,
so it can make seeds. Usually, pollen is a yellow powder, but it
can also be orange, green, and other colors.
You often see pollen covering cars and windows. This is usually from tiny flowers on some kinds of trees, weeds, and grasses. These plain little flowers rely on wind or rain to spread their pollen around. By making a ton of it, they can be sure some of the pollen makes it to other flowers. This is the pollen many people are allergic to. Ah choo!! |
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