Pre K through Grade 2

Grade Levels Pre-K through Grade 2

Estimated Teaching Time 30 to 40 minutes

Interdisciplinary Connections

Objectives

Children will:

Learn that there are many kinds of tiny living organisms, including germs.
Understand that germs can cause sickness and that some other tiny living organisms are helpful to us.

What Children Do

Children will construct finger puppets to represent “germ characters,” and share what they have made with the class.

Materials Required

Advanced Preparation

Suggested Sequence

Explain that germs are tiny living things, called microorganisms, that we can’t see with our eyes alone. Explain that germs can make us sick. Two types that make us sick are viruses and certain bacteria.
Ask children to talk about illnesses they have had. Record their responses on the blackboard. Form one column for illnesses caused by germs and another for those that were not caused by germs.
Distribute puppet-making materials. Have each child use the materials and the template to make a puppet depicting a germ of their choice. They can either invent their own germ based on what they have seen and heard or cut one out from the character coloring sheet and glue it to the template.
Ask each child to show his or her puppet to the class, describing its characteristics.
Explain that there are also other microorganisms that don’t make us sick. Explain that these tiny living things can actually help us. Ask whether anyone has gone to the doctor lately. Tell children that some medicines doctors prescribe come from these good organisms, such as penicillin, which comes from a good fungus.
Talk about other microorganisms that are helpful. Yeast (another fungus) makes bread rise. Others help us make cheese and vinegar, and break down dead plants and animals to fertilize the soil. Yogurt is also full of good bacteria (acidophilus). Show examples of these products to help children visualize.

Check for Understanding

Ask the following questions:

What are some different kinds of microorganisms and what do they do?
How are germs different from other microorganisms we’ve talked about?
If there were no microorganisms in the world, how would people’s lives be better? How would they be worse?

Extensions

Have children compose songs, plays or games utilizing the puppets.
Place the puppets near sinks, door knobs and other high traffic areas to remind children to wash and/or sanitize their hands (the importance of which they will learn in subsequent lessons).
Create a concentration matching game with pictures of germs or the germ characters.

Words to Share

Finger Germs