Gretta's 1st Grade Science Fair Project

Gretta was so excited to do a science fair project. I talked her into doing a project I was very curious about. I went to lunch with her for her birthday and realized that they go to recess right before lunch and don't get the opportunity to wash their hands with soap and water before lunch. In fact going to the bathroom at all during lunch is highly discouraged because they have a bathroom in their room. 

So we wanted to see which was the best way to wash hands before lunch with soap and water vs. hand sanitizer. 

I meet Gretta at her class. They usually have outside recess, but due to the cold they had indoor recess that day. First Gretta picked two sticks from her class stick jar. She randomly selected Greta F and Alexis. 

The samples we took were...

Hands before washing

washing hands with alcohol sanitizer

their hands after washing them. 

Then we also did Greta F's lunch sack and Alexis lunch card.

Plus the table and fork dispenser.

After they were done I took them home and put them over the hot air vent and covered them with a blanket to help them grow. Luckily it was only 15 degrees outside, so the heater was going most of the time, and there was a lot of growth in 24 hours. 

Most Germs to least germs.....

Alexis before, Alexis lunch card, Greta before, Alexis after sanitizer, Greta after sanitizer, Alexis after washing hands, Greta after washing hands, Greta’s lunch sack, fork dispenser, table

Conclusion & Future Direction

#1 Washing hands with soap and water is decreases germs better than using alcohol based hand sanitizer (Germ-X brand)

#2 Students hands are full of germs after recess

#3 Lunch cards have lots of germs on them

#4 The lunch table and fork dispenser don’t not have that many germs on them.

Washing hand with soap and water kills more germs than with an alcohol based hand sanitizer (Germ-X brand). After recess, students should be allowed and encouraged to wash their hands with soap and water before eating their lunch food. This may decrease the spread of germs and illness of the students.

Lunch Procedure

HOT LUNCH: Go to recess, line up to come inside, sit down at tables in gym, dismissed to lunch line, get lunch card, put lunch card in pocket, use alcohol based hand sanitizer provided by school, get lunch, put lunch card in the right container, get silverware, sit at the table.

SACK LUNCH: Go to recess, line up to come inside, grab lunch out of bucket on the way to sitting down for lunch, eat lunch

 (No hand sanitizer is on the table, but is available at the door as they come into the cafeteria. Students must ask to use the bathroom if they would like to wash their hands before lunch.)

If it were up to me they would all wash their hands with soap and water before lunch. I have noticed that Gretta has been a lot sicker this year and I think not washing her hands before lunch is part of the problem. Now if I could only get the principle to understand. 

They don't judge the science fair projects, but Gretta sure had a fun time participating and showing her class her project.