This lesson reminds students how tiny and powerful viruses are. We will spend some time talking about how protect ourselves from viruses, for example: washing our hands. Students will talk about how fast viruses spread and the importance of covering our mouths when we cough and sneeze and the always valuable skill of handwashing.
Students will come in contact with Glo Germ gel and hand sanitizer. Please make sure that we are aware of any student that shouldn’t participate because of health/skin sensitivity/allergy issues. (Most appropriate for grade levels K-2.)
Lesson Time: 70-80 minutes
Student Activity 1: This activity calls for students to bring out their crayons, scissors, and glue. They will put together a picture that reminds all of us what to do when we cough or sneeze.
Adult Demonstration 1: After discussing the importance of washing our hands, we will show an experiment using water, dish soap, and pepper that mimics removing germs.
Adult Demonstration 2: The adult presenting the lesson will demonstrate what will happen in Student Activity 2 first.
Student Activity 2: In this activity our volunteer will put a small amount of Glo-Germ in the students’ hands. After rubbing their hands together, we will turn out the lights, and shine a black light onto the “germs” on their hands. During a second trip around the room, the Wizard will put a small amount of hand sanitizer in each student’s hand. Again, we will shine the black light and see less of those nasty “germs”.
Group work: There is no group work in this activity, students will be working on their own.
Science Standards:
2.LS.1: Living things cause changes on Earth.
2.LS.2: All organisms alive today result from their ancestors, some of which may be extinct. Not all kinds of organisms that lived in the past are represented by living organisms today.
Please see the Nature of Science document on our Lesson Standards page.