McCormick Middle School 5th graders designed an experiment to get rid of the germs on their hands. This lesson was part of the PLTW Launch Module Infection Detection taught by Erin Sumpter, 5th grade teacher. Students applied a "germ" powder or lotion on their hands and conducted their experimentation. Each student team chose a different hand washing method that required using only hot or cold water, bar soap, baby soap, or liquid soap to get rid of the "germs." After two minutes of hand washing, the students used a black light to see the "germs" that were left on their hands. For many teams, the "germs" did not go away. The teacher and students used the pre and post experimental data to determine which hand washing "design" worked best. This was a great lesson to teach proper hand washing and the challenges with keeping germs away.
