An engaging experiment allows scholars to understand why the recommendation is to wash for 20 seconds with soap and water — while making them aware of their own habits! 

Concepts

diseases, infections, handwashing, germs, cleanliness

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Have students take note of how many people they observe washing and not washing their hands when they are in public restrooms
• Create posters to place in bathrooms reminding everyone to wash hands properly

Classroom Considerations

• Experiment requires a sink for each group
• The lesson is the fifth in a series of nine

Pros

• Includes an evaluation sheet to assess understanding
• Provides correlated textbooks and many Internet resources

Cons

• None

Common Core

RST.6-8.3