Nurses Teach Middle Schoolers about Germs

Eighth-grade science students from Presque Isle Middle School took a short road trip on December 7th to have a “hands-on” health lesson in the nursing lab at Northern Maine Community College.  Teacher Lisa Dow brought two separate groups totaling 34 students to the NMCC lab where they learned about where germs hide and how best to protect yourself from them.

The lesson was prepared and conducted by four Level 1 nursing students who began with a fast-paced trivia game.  Are there more germs on a cell phone or a toilet seat?  How fast do the droplets in a sneeze travel?  How long do germs live on surfaces?  The science students were surprised by many of the answers!

“My students are so curious and they love to learn hands-on,” said Dow.  “This is also a great way to expose them to a higher education lab and to show them what NMCC has to offer.”

The NMCC students chose to the topic of germs as a way to help students be proactive regarding their health and it dovetailed with National Hand Washing Week.

“There are so many ways to spread germs but the most important way to combat them is to wash hands thoroughly and often,” said nursing student Betsy Allen.

The students also saw “first-hand” how germs are easily and noticeably passed from person-to-person with the glitter demonstration.  One student’s hands were sprinkled with glitter then gave “high-fives” to three other students.  Each was left with plenty of sparkling glitter representing germs.

Finally, germ gel was spread on each student’s hands which illuminates dirt and germs when exposed to black light.  The result was illuminating and the students were anxious to begin their new hand-washing routine before leaving the lab.