Germs!
I recently presented a storytime at Morrill Hall, The State Museum at the University of Nebraska. The theme was All Things Tiny to highlight their Guts & Glory: A Parasite Story exhibit.
I began with TINY CREATURES: The World of Microbes. The author gives examples of their sizes and numbers, their varied shapes, their habitats, appetites and how they eat. Microorganisms slowly change food into compost, milk into yogurt and rocks into soil. They reproduce by dividing, and they’re very good at it. Happily only a few can make us sick; most are busily with other vital tasks.
You wouldn’t want to live without bacteria! By Roger Canavan is another nonfiction book that addresses the subject.
Inside Your Germs
Another fun book that is illustrated with cartoon style germs and short amount of text is Germs by Judy Oetting.
Another is Achoo!
The second book we read was Germs! Germs! Germs!
followed by Wash Your Hands.
Each time the princess is told to wash her hands, she asks why, and each circumstance is briefly explained. After Little Princess plays outside, the Queen instructs her to wash because she got dirty outside. She plays with her dog and the cook makes her wash and dry them again. She uses her potty and the King has her wash even though she’s washed them twice before. Lastly, the maid has her wash after she sneezes and with much humor gives her a overview of dealing with `germs and nasties’ to avoid getting sick.
The children really enjoyed the story along with naming all the animals in Felicity Floo Visits the Zoo.
They also enjoyed Germs Are Not for Sharing with its simple text and easy to understand information.
Just for fun I read Solomon Sneezes.
I passed out paper circles to the children to show how quickly bacteria can multiply. I put one down and explained that it created two more and invited the children to add their circles, then showed them that each of the two created two more and so on. They enjoyed watching the bacteria multiply!
Some links to activities:
Watch Germs Spread; use flour or glitter to show how easy it is to spread germs.
http://www.scholastic.com/browse/lessonplan.jsp?id=258
http://www.consumered.org/teach/germ-lessons-and-activities
More in depth information and activities.
http://sciencenetlinks.com/esheets/germs-and-the-body/
Germ coloring sheets.
http://crystalandcomp.com/kid-color-pages-a-sick-day-and-spreading-germs/
More information at Biology4Kids.
Science in Storytime 