Washing hands
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe why it is important for humans to wash their hands.
Key learning points
- It is important for humans to live a healthy life.
- Personal hygiene is the way we care for our bodies, including washing hands and bathing.
- Invisible germs can be passed easily between humans.
- Scientists investigate how germs spread and how this can be prevented.
- Regular handwashing is one of the best ways to remove germs and prevent them spreading to others.
Keywords
Healthy - The health of a living thing is how well or ill it is. A healthy diet keeps a person or animal well.
Hygiene - Hygiene means keeping yourself and where you live clean.
Germs - A germ is a living thing that is very small. Some germs keep us healthy and other germs can cause harm and make you ill.
Prevent - To prevent something is to stop it from happening.
Hand washing - Washing your hands with warm water and soap can help to prevent the spread of germs.
Common misconception
Being seen as ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’ is linked to personal attributes as well as physical attributes (such as regarding an unhealthy character as lazy or untidy).
Explanation that everyone can take steps to be healthy and that good hygiene is an important part of being healthy.
Teacher tip
Using a UV torch and a UV germ lotion is also a great way to show pupils that there are germs on their hands that they cannot see, and the impact of washing their hands on the quantity of germs that are present.
Equipment
Task B - Mix eco-glitter with sanitiser gel to create the visible 'germs'. Check that the glitter remains colour-fast once mixed. Have soap, warm and cold water available to test removing the 'germs'.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which group of animals do humans belong to?
Q2.Is an elbow a body part on the inside or the outside of the human body?
Q3.Which part of the body helps to digest the food that we eat?
Q4.How many senses do humans have?
Q5.Why do humans have senses?
Q6.Match each sense to the body part it uses.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Why is it important for humans to live a healthy life?
Q2.Which of these is a way to have good personal hygiene?
Q3.What do we use to wash our hands?
Q4.Why are germs spread so easily by humans?
Q5.Why do scientists want to prevent germs from spreading?
Q6.Which action do you recommend to prevent the spread of germs?
To help you plan your 2 science lesson on: Washing hands, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 2 science lesson on: Washing hands, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 1 science lessons from the Healthy me unit, dive into the full primary science curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.