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Pre-K through Grade 2
Grade 3 through Grade 6
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Grade Levels Grades 3 through
6
Estimated Teaching Time 40
minutes
Interdisciplinary Connections
- Sorting and organizing data (Science, Math)
- Counting (Math)
- Appreciating the importance of good hand hygiene (Science,
Health)
Objectives
Students will:
- Learn the increased risk of germ transmission when people with
germy hands touch each other.
- Understand the importance of good hand hygiene habits.
What Students Do
Students will interact and exchange paper squares, symbolizing
germs. Then they add up how many different squares they have collected
and determine the significance of what this represents.
Materials Required
- “Handing Out Germs” activity sheet (blackline
master 1.6 PDF)
- Pencils, one per student
- Scissors, one pair per student
- Cassette or CD player, recorded music
Advanced Preparation
- Select an upbeat music recording. Have music player ready, with
volume adjusted for room.
- Duplicate blackline master
1.6 PDF, one per student. You may want to consider using a
variety of colors, if available.
Suggested Sequence
- Pass out the activity sheets. Have each student write his or
her name on all the squares and then cut the squares apart.
- Ask each student to give you one square, with the name side
down.
- Play the recorded music and have students walk about the room.
Stop the music frequently. When it stops, each student should
trade a square with a classmate, and then state one thing about
him or herself (such as their favorite color, food or book). This
simulates germ transmission that occurs when people interact.
- After a few minutes, have students stop and take note of how
many different names they have collected.
- Tell students that you are going to pick five squares from
the ones they gave you. Draw the squares and read the names aloud.
Tell the class that they should pretend that each of the people
you named are getting sick.
- Have students count the number of squares they have collected
that have those names on them, and explain that these squares
represent disease-causing germs. Tell all the students who have
those squares to raise their hands.
- Ask the class to count the number of people who have been “handed”
an illness. Discuss what this means.
Check for Understanding
Ask the following questions:
- What would happen if each of these squares really were a disease-causing
germ?
- How many students would have gotten “infected”
if the five people who were getting sick had stayed home?
- How do students think we reduce the spread of disease if such
germs can be dispersed so readily?
- What do our bodies do to handle germs since we don’t
live in a germ-free world? [Make antibodies, make whiteblood
cells, build up immune system.] How does good hand hygiene
help?
Extensions
- Ask students to exchange squares again, face down. How many
class members are “infected” now?
- Use the blackboard to make a chart as students supply you with
the following data: a) the number of people in the class, b) the
number of people who were “sick” before the first
“germ” exchange [five], c) the number of people who
got “sick” after the first exchange, and d) the number
who got “sick” after the second exchange.
Words to Share
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