Grades 3 to 5 • Personal Health Series

Germs
Why should you wash your hands before you eat? Why should you cover your nose
KidsHealth.org/classroom
when you sneeze? One word: Germs! Germs are tiny living organisms that can cause
disease. The following activities will help your students learn how they can avoid
Teacher’s Guide spreading germs and getting sick.

This guide includes:

• Standards
Related KidsHealth Links
• Related Links
• Discussion Questions Articles for Kids:
• Activities for Students
What Are Germs?
• Reproducible Materials
KidsHealth.org/en/kids/germs.html

Why Do I Need to Wash My Hands?

KidsHealth.org/en/kids/wash-hands.html
Standards
What’s Wrong With Biting My Nails?
This guide correlates with KidsHealth.org/en/kids/nails.html
the following National Health
Education Standards: The 5-Second Rule
KidsHealth.org/en/kids/5-seconds.html
Students will:
• Comprehend concepts related Checking Out Cuts, Scratches, and Abrasions
to health promotion and KidsHealth.org/en/kids/cuts.html
disease prevention to enhance
health. Your Immune System
• Demonstrate the ability to KidsHealth.org/en/kids/immune.html
access valid information and
products and services to
enhance health.
• Demonstrate the ability to
practice health-enhancing
behaviors and avoid or reduce
health risks.
• Demonstrate the ability to
Discussion Questions
advocate for personal, family,
and community health. Note: The following questions are written in language appropriate for sharing with
your students.

1. Did you know there are four main kinds of germs? Can you name them?

2. Not all bacteria are bad for your body. When can some kinds of bacteria help
keep you healthy?

3. When germs attack, your immune system comes to your body’s defense! How
does your body fight germs and infections? What can you do to protect yourself
from infections?

National Health Education

Standards:
www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/sher/
standards/index.htm
© 2015 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
 Grades 3 to 5 • Personal Health Series
Germs
Activities for Students
Note: The following activities are written in language appropriate for sharing with your students.

Student Survey

Objectives:
Students will:
• Survey, assess, and respond to knowledge of simple infection prevention methods among their peers

Materials:
• Computer with Internet access
• “Student Survey” handout

Class Time:
2 90-minute sessions (plus time for survey data collection)

Activity:
[Note to teacher: Have your class take the Germs quiz before starting this activity. Using the anonymous “Student
Survey” handout, students can collect data in several ways. They can approach peers with survey sheets and pens or
pencils, then ask respondents to answer the questions and return the sheets to the students, or to designated
collection bins. You can also leave sheets in a hallway next to a collection bin. Students can also distribute sheets to
neighborhood friends. Make sure to give students clear instructions about anonymity and how to distribute and collect
the sheets.]

Let’s find out how much other kids in school know about germs and how to prevent infections. We’ll ask other
students to fill out our survey, without asking them to write their names. Then as a class we’ll look at the answers
they give us (the data), tally the number of times each of the four questions get answered incorrectly, and see which
facts students seem to have the most trouble with. We’ll identify the trouble area by figuring out which of the four
questions has the highest percentage of wrong answers. We can also assess the questions with multiple answers the
same way, to see if students are missing some of the correct answers. Then we’ll create a public service
announcement (PSA) for our school to address that specific infection prevention fact. In the PSA, we’ll make sure to
include some of our data so students understand why we’re trying to spread the message about protecting ourselves
from germs.

[Note to teacher: PSAs can be done individually, in small groups, or as a class, as posters for hallways, a podcast or
script to be read for morning announcements, or a video to be shown at a school assembly.]

Extension:
Contact a local newspaper or blogger to see if they’d be interested in writing an article about your survey, the
results, and the PSAs.

© 2015 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
 Grades 3 to 5 • Personal Health Series
Germs
Germ Art

Objectives:
Students will:
• Explore how germs affect people in terms of transmission, symptoms, treatment, and prevention

Materials:
• Computer with Internet access
• Art materials

Class Time:
90 minutes

Activity:
[Note to teacher: To provide examples, your students can check out some of the infections listed at KidsHealth.org/en/
kids/ill-injure, if necessary. You can choose the medium or media that students will use to create their own germs, or
you can let them choose. Germs could be digital images made with graphic art software, drawings or collages on
posterboard, digital 3D depictions, sculptures (clay, papier mâché, Styrofoam, etc.) or mixed-media creations.]

Today we’re going to read the KidsHealth.org article, “What Are Germs?” Then we’re going to invent our own germs.
You can start by naming and describing your germ using the “Germ Art” handout, then creating it so we can see what it
looks like, or you can create it first and describe it last.

Extension:
Individually or in small groups, have students create a cartoon, comic book, short story, video, song, or poem
about a scientist who develops a cure for one of the imaginary germs and the disease it causes. Make sure to
cover transmission, symptoms, treatment, and prevention.

Reproducible Materials
Handout: Student Survey
KidsHealth.org/classroom/3to5/personal/hygiene/germs_handout1.pdf
Handout: Student Survey Answer Key
KidsHealth.org/classroom/3to5/personal/hygiene/germs_handout2.pdf
Handout: Germ Art
KidsHealth.org/classroom/3to5/personal/hygiene/germs_handout3.pdf
Quiz: Germs
KidsHealth.org/classroom/3to5/personal/hygiene/germs_quiz.pdf
Answer Key: Germs
KidsHealth.org/classroom/3to5/personal/hygiene/germs_quiz_answers.pdf

KidsHealth.org is devoted to providing the latest children’s health information. The site, which is widely
recommended by educators, libraries, and school associations, has received the “Teachers’ Choice Award
for the Family” and the prestigious Pirelli Award for “Best Educational Media for Students.” KidsHealth comes
from the nonprofit Nemours Foundation. Check out www.KidsHealth.org to see the latest additions!

© 2015 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
 Personal Health Series

Germs

Student Survey
Instructions: Please answer these questions. Do not write your name on this sheet.

1. The best way to protect yourself from germs, and to avoid spreading germs
to other people, is to (choose one):
a) wear a surgical mask and gloves
b) stay inside
c) wash your hands
d) keep a bar of soap in your backpack
e) sneeze into your desk

2. Underline the times when it’s important to wash your hands (choose one or more):
a) before eating
b) before putting on gloves
c) after using the bathroom
d) after blowing your nose or coughing
e) after taking a shower
f) after playing outside or with a pet
g) after being with someone who’s sick

3. If you have to cough or sneeze, you should cover your mouth and nose with
(choose one or more):
a) a tissue
b) your elbow
c) your hands
d) a book

4. True or false: It’s OK to eat food if it’s on the floor for less than 5 seconds.
a) true
b) false

© 2015 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
 Personal Health Series

Germs

Student Survey Answer Key

1. The best way to protect yourself from germs, and to avoid spreading germs
to other people, is to (choose one):
a) wear a surgical mask and gloves
b) stay inside
c) wash your hands
d) keep a bar of soap in your backpack
e) sneeze into your desk

2. Underline the times when it’s important to wash your hands (choose one or more):
a) before eating
b) before putting on gloves
c) after using the bathroom
d) after blowing your nose or coughing
e) after taking a shower
f) after playing outside or with a pet
g) after being with someone who’s sick

3. If you have to cough or sneeze, you should cover your mouth and nose with
(choose one or more):
a) a tissue
b) your elbow
c) your hands
d) a book

4. True or false: It’s OK to eat food if it’s on the floor for less than 5 seconds.
a) true
b) false

© 2015 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
 Personal Health Series

Germs
Name: Date:

Germ Art
Instructions: Use this sheet to describe your imaginary germ. (Optional: Use an online translator
to find the Latin name of your germ.)

Germ name
English: _________________________________________
Latin: _________________________________________

Type (circle one): Bacterium Virus Fungus Protozoan

Transmission (how people get infected):

Symptoms (how it affects the body):

Treatment (what people do to feel better):

Prevention (how people can avoid getting infected):

© 2015 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
 Personal Health Series

Germs
Name: Date:

Quiz

1. Name at least two of the four major types of germs:

2. True or false: Germs can spread through the air when someone coughs or sneezes.

3. The best way to protect yourself from germs, and to avoid spreading germs to other people,
is to:
a) wear a surgical mask and gloves whenever you leave your home
b) stay inside all the time
c) wash your hands
d) keep a bar of soap in your backpack

4. Underline the times when it’s important to wash your hands:

a) before eating
b) before doing the wave at a sports event
c) before putting on gloves
d) after using the bathroom
e) after blowing your nose or coughing
f) after taking a shower
g) after playing outside or with your pet
h) after being with someone who’s sick

5. True or false: It’s OK to eat food if it’s on the floor for less than 5 seconds.

© 2015 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.
 Personal Health Series

Germs

Quiz Answer Key

1. Name at least two of the four major types of germs:

(any two of these: bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa)

2. True or false: Germs can spread through the air when someone coughs or sneezes.

3. The best way to protect yourself from germs, and to avoid spreading germs to other people,
is to:
a) wear a surgical mask and gloves whenever you leave your home
b) stay inside all the time
c) wash your hands
d) keep a bar of soap in your backpack

4. Underline the times when it’s important to wash your hands:

a) before eating
b) before doing the wave at a sports event
c) before putting on gloves
d) after using the bathroom
e) after blowing your nose or coughing
f) after taking a shower
g) after playing outside or with your pet
h) after being with someone who’s sick

5. True or false: It’s OK to eat food if it’s on the floor for less than 5 seconds.

© 2015 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. Reproduction permitted for individual classroom use.