1. Grade 1 Health Unit 3 Understanding Human Development
Travelling Germs
Grade 1 Health Unit 3
Understanding Human Development

2. Healthy Living In Grade 1, the units in Health are:
Food, Habits, and Healthy Alternatives
Safety and Well-Being
Understanding Human Development

3. Unit 3 (April-June) Understanding Human Development
Travelling Germs
Identifying Parts of the Body
It Makes Sense
How the Senses Work

4. 1. Travelling Germs
apply proper hygienic procedures for protecting your own health and preventing the transmission of disease to others.

5. Home from School
Listen to the story and act out the appropriate sections of the story when prompted.
Identify ways that Jennifer was sick.
Identify ways that Grandma helped to stop the spread of germs.

6. Travelling Germs
Germs are tiny (microscopic) living things, too small to see with the human eye alone.
There are many different kinds of germs. Viruses and bacteria are the germs that cause many illnesses such as colds, coughs, stomach flu, food poisoning, infections, and others. Bacteria in the mouth can also cause cavities.
Germs are found everywhere: in the air, on food, in water, and on everything we touch. They are even on skin and in the body. Many germs are not harmful, and the body keeps out harmful germs most of the time.
Viruses and bacteria like an environment that is warm, wet, and has plenty of food. The inside of the human body is warm, wet, and has plenty of food for germs.

7. Travelling Germs
Transmission: Because germs are everywhere, it is easy to get them on our hands. Millions of germs can hide out on dirty fingers and hands. Some of them can find their way to the stomach through the mouth.
Sometimes viruses and bacteria zoom through the air in a person’s sneezes and coughs. Another person can breathe them in.
Defense Against Germs: The Skin: The body is completely covered in skin. As long as there are no scratches or cuts on the skin, it keeps germs on the outside of the body from getting inside.

8. Travelling Germs – Teacher Instructions
Pass around a piece of sports chalk, chalk, glitter, or powder and have the students rub it on their hands. Once their hands are chalked, students move about the room and touch objects, leaving chalk smudges behind.
As an alternative, direct students’ attention to class technology and the smudges that might already be present through use (e.g., finger prints on computer screens).
Highlight the fact that even though we are not able to see germs, they are on our hands and remain everywhere we touch, just like the chalk.
Be sure to explain how, unlike the chalk, germs are so small that we actually can’t see them.

9. Travelling Germs – Teacher Instructions
Bang two chalk brushes together, a safe distance away from students. (This could be done outside.)
The students watch where the dust lands. Note that germs are like the dust and that when we cough or sneeze, germs travel just like the dust, which travels and goes everywhere.
Ask the students what would happen if they were to stand nearby when you banged the brushes and they breathed in.

10. Protecting Yourself from Germs
In small groups, students brainstorm all the things they could do to protect themselves from germs.
Write their responses on chart paper, chalkboard, or interactive white board.
As required, provide students with real-life examples and situations from a typical school day to guide their learning. Examples could include: washing their hands after using the washroom, coughing into their sleeve, and washing their hands before eating.

11. Safety Shield
Working individually, students construct a shield to protect themselves from germs, highlighting a rule discussed or identified throughout the class.
Consider displaying the shields in the classroom and use them to remind students of health rules on a daily basis.
At key times throughout the day (e.g., wash your hands before you eat your snack and after washroom breaks), use specific students’ shields to highlight certain rules that are applicable to that specific situation.

12. Public Health Nurse
Have a staff member from your local public health unit come in and share their resources on proper hygiene practices.
Glowing germ products can also be an engaging resource for students, available from online shopping websites.