lesson2

Lesson 2

Grade Level: 3-5

Subject: Health, Science, Math

Learner Outcomes:

Students will be able to define the term germ
Students will be able to show how you should wash your hands
Students will be able to tell when you should wash your hands
Students will be able to tell why you should wash your hands

Duration of Lesson: 45 minutes - one hour

Materials:

Technology Tools/Courseware:

black light
Computers with PowerPoint software
Students should have Internet permission

Teacher Notes:

Secretly contaminate some commonly used areas that the students will touch with the two glo-germ products that the students will touch on their way to their desks.

Use the American Society for Microbiology Hand washing tips page for guidelines of when and how you should wash your hands.

Procedures:

Ask students -- What is a germ?
Discuss with class that a germ is a tiny organism that can cause disease.
Ask -- Where do germs come from?
Ask -- How do they get inside us to make us sick?
Ask for three student volunteers to share the germs on their hands. Reveal that you have secretly placed pretend germs on the doorknob and other things that they touched on their way in. Shine the black light on their hands. Show how these "germs" are all over their hands
Discuss that real germs are too small to see with our eyes, and they are everywhere.
Using their hand washing journal page make a list of ways we spread these invisible germs . (Your hands by touching anything) Show how the pretend "germs" are on their faces, noses, clothes, etc. with the blacklight.
Brainstorm ideas about how they could prevent spreading germs. List these ideas on the hand washing journal page.
Send three different students to wash their hands. Have one student wash with soap and water. Another student wash only with water. The last student use hand sanitizer gel. Test their hands with the black light when they return. Have them chart their results on the hand washing journal page.
Wipe the three students hands with a moist towlette to show how this will remove the germs from their hands. Use the black light again to show the results.
Finish hand washing journal page by listing how you should wash your hands.
View PowerPoint presentation that shows the results of a survey conducted by the AMS and Bayer Pharmaceutical Division about hand washing habits in public restrooms in well known locales in large cities.

Modifications:

Teacher will allow students with special needs extended time as needed.
Students without Internet access may use other reference sources. (enrichment activity)

Enrichment:

Have students search the Internet for further experiments information about germs and hand washing. A good place to begin would be KidsHealth or Education World.
Have the students read the books -- Those Mean Nasty Dirty Downright Disgusting but...Invisible Germs by Judith Anne Rice or Scholastic's the Magic School Bus inside Ralphie: A Book about Germs by Beth Nadler

Evaluation:

In teams, have the class prepare a PowerPoint presentation that will explain what a germ is, how to wash your hands, and when to wash your hands.

RUBRIC

A - B*	Participation Followed Directions Worked co-operatively Defined a germ Listed how to wash your hands Listed when to wash your hands
C - D	Participation Followed Directions Worked co-operatively Defined a germ Partial list of how to wash your hands Partial list of when to wash your hands
F	Did not Participate Did not follow directions Did not work co-operatively Did not include definition Did not include how to wash your hands Did not include when to wash your hands