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Glowing Growing Germs. Exploring the spread of microbes in Bozeman’s elementary schools. Dema Alniemi. Target Audience. Elementary school kids in Bozeman 4 th graders Emily Dickinson Hawthorne. Lesson plan. How illnesses spread Human biological defenses Expand imaginations.
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Glowing Growing Germs Exploring the spread of microbes in Bozeman’s elementary schools Dema Alniemi
Target Audience • Elementary school kids in Bozeman • 4th graders Emily Dickinson Hawthorne
Lesson plan • How illnesses spread • Human biological defenses • Expand imaginations
Project Overview • Glo Germ activity
Fingernails/cuticles Wrists In between fingers Creases of hands Commonly missed areas
Project Overview • “Growing Germs” activity • Swabbed areas around classroom and school • Grew on agar plates for one week • Returned to classroom with results
What kids learned… • How easily bacteria and microbes spread • Prevention of spread • Basics of human immune system
What kids learned… • How to keep self and those around us healthy • Stay home if ill • Cough/sneeze in elbow, not hands • Dispose of used tissue immediately • Daily exercise • Variety of fresh, healthy foods in diet
Challenges of outreach • Obtaining responses from teachers • Keeping 9-10 year olds calm • Working with a child with OCD whose phobia is germs
Successes of outreach • Science was made fun for students who previously were uninterested in the subject • Kids made connections between science and everyday life
My favorite part was… • “Learning how germs and bacteria spread.” -Noah
My favorite part was… • “Swabbing and seeing what a germ looks like.” -Hannah
My favorite part was… • “That I get to do more science and I love science because it’s a lot of fun!” -Mary Kate
Hughes Undergraduate Biology Program Howard Hughes Medical Institute Acknowledgments Thanks also to Martha Sellers, Kylie Perlinski, Gwen Jacobs, Duane Mooney, Edward Dratz, and all the teachers and students I worked with.