Objectives :
- Find out about some of the old infectious diseases.
- Pinpoint main "entry points" for germs

Time : 45 minutes

Matériel : Pupil's sheet n° 1

Method :
- First of all, get the children to talk about their own experiences with the doctor, to make them aware of common infant diseases.
Ask them:

• How did they feel?
• What did the doctor do?
  (Made an examination / asked questions / wrote a prescription for medicine to help cure the illness, etc.)
  

- Ask the children about the symptoms of the illness.
- They can draw this, for example:

• Sam had conjunctivitis: he draws his face with red eyes.
• Emma had chicken pox: she draws herself covered with red spots.
• Will had mumps: he draws his face with swollen cheeks.
• Rachel had a cold: she draws her runny nose.
  

- This light-hearted approach puts illness in perspective, and prepares the children for learning about severe diseases without alarming them.
- Compare the illnesses. Establish that some are transmitted more easily than others. Introduce the idea of epidemics caused by germs.
- Explain that at one time epidemics could kill thousands of people in just a few weeks.
- Hand out the sheet and do the exercise.
- Each time a disease is identified, the teacher can extend the exercise by asking the pupils about symptoms and in what way it is usually transmitted.
- Point out that the majority of ancient diseases mainly affected the respiratory system.
- At the end of the exercise, emphasize two points:

• The main "entry point" for these diseases were the mucous membranes (mouth, nose, intestines, particularly for typhoid, cholera and tuberculosis) and wounds (or even a scratch, especially for tetanus).
• These ancient plagues have been eradicated today, due mainly to preventive vaccination and antibiotics.
  

- Conclude by saying that the old diseases have been replaced by modern ones, such as Aids and cancer, and that progress in scientific research gives hope that future discoveries will find a cure.

Correction :
- Plague / tetanus / rabies / cholera / smallpox.
- plague - rat / rabies - dog / sleeping sickness - tsetse fly / tetanus - rusty nail / toxoplasmosis - cat.

- Revealed word: epidemics.

2 - INVENTION OF THE MICROSCOPE

Objectives :
- Introduce the instrument that made the discovery of germs possible and allows us to observe them.
- Expand on the concepts of "microscopic" and "magnification".

Material : Pupil's sheet no. 2.

Time : 30 minutes

Method :
- The exercise can be done individually or collectively.
- Hand out the sheet.
- Talk though the microscope illustration and explain how it works (eye position / position for the glass plate with the germs / adjusting screw and switch, etc.)
- Make clear that we cannot see germs with the naked eye and it was a long time before we could find out about them.
- Do the exercises.
- Finish by reminding the children:

• Microscopes have evolved greatly since their beginning in 1590 (optical lens design), especially with the more recent development of electron microscopes.
• Some germs called viruses are so small that they cannot be seen with a standard microscope.

They are no larger than a millimicron, which is a millionth of a millimetre! They can only be seen with an electron microscope and, at first, were known for not even being visible under a. microscope.

Correction :
- Micro-organisms were the first to appear on earth.
- A microscope allows us to see things too small for the naked eye.

3 - THE MAGIC FINGER

Objective :
- Understand how effective cleaning products are.

Material :
- Large bowl of water.
- Drawing or cut-out of germ or dirt on a triangle approx. 10 cm each side, with a small 2 cm notch cut out of one side.
- Washing-up liquid.

Time : 20 minutes

Method :
- Put the bowl in front of the pupils and show them the illustration of microbe or dirt.
- Ask the following:

• What do we use to get rid of dirt?
  

- Explain the experiment to the class, i.e. to demonstrate the effectiveness of cleaning products.
- Show the washing-up liquid to the pupils.
- Place the piece of paper in the bowl.
- Make a bet with the whole class: "Without touching germs, I can make them run away with my finger".
- The first time:

• Put your finger in the water near the bacteria.
• What happens? (Nothing - The bet is lost.)
  

- The second time:

• Put a drop of washing-up liquid on your finger
• Put it in the water a few centimetres from the notch in the cut-out.
• What happens? (Germs run away as the finger gets closer - The bet is won.)
  

- All together, draw a conclusion based on the evidence that cleaning products are effective.
- Emphasize:

• The potential risk to health if they are not used properly.
• The importance of only using them under supervision.

4 - GREAT SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES

Objectives :
- Make the pupils aware of some important scientific and hygiene discoveries.
- Understand the link between rabies, Pasteur and vaccination.

Material : Pupil's sheet no. 3.

Time : 30 minutes

Method :
The exercise can be done individually or collectively.
- Hand out the sheet.
- Talk though the illustration with the pupils:

• What is it about?
• Who can we see?
• When was it?
  

- Explain that this is an imaginary scene, and that hygiene for prehistoric people most likely meant being selective in what they ate (food hygiene)
- Do the exercise.
- Discuss the clues with the class, so that the pupils can more easily visualize dates of discoveries, their significance in scientific progress (principle of vaccination, for example) and how they are applied today.
- The teacher can extend the exercise by asking the pupils, in small groups or individually, to find out more about the discovery of each modern-day object as it is identified in the picture.
- In conclusion, emphasize the principle of vaccine, which has eradicated some killer diseases (but only true, unfortunately, in developed countries).
- Discuss vaccination by asking the children questions which relate to their own experiences:

• What is a vaccine?
• It is not a medicine. Vaccines contain a very weak dose of illnesses the body should be protected against. By building up defenses, the body is able to protect itself against more severe attacks.
• Which vaccines do you know? With which scientists are they associated?
  [For instance: rabies = Louis Pasteur (1884); diphtheria = Gaston Ramon (1926); tuberculosis = Albert Calmette (BCG in 1912); plague = Girard and Robic (1930)]
  Rabies is a special case in that the vaccine is not only used as a preventive measure, but also to treat people already infected with the disease. This is not so with most vaccines.
• Which vaccines are compulsory today? Talk about boosters.
  [BCG (Tuberculosis) / Smallpox / Tetanus / Poliomyelitis / Diphtheria, etc.]

Correction :
- Modern objects hidden in the picture: flask of penicillin / microscope / syringe of vaccine / tube of aspirins / pair of glasses / basin with soap and clean towel / dustbin.
- Word grid:

- Hidden word: vaccine.

5 - HYGIENE THROUGH THE AGES

Objectives :
- Understand how personal hygiene has evolved.
- Learn when aids to everyday hygiene appeared.

Material : Pupil's sheet no. 4.

Time : 30 minutes

Method :
Hand out the sheet and do the exercise.
- Finish by highlighting that we have not always washed with water, particularly in the 17th century, when people thought it contaminated the bloodstream through pores in the skin.
- Extend the exercise by asking the children about important inventions that have marked the history of hygiene up to today (e.g. bath / toothbrush / comb / flannel / washing machine / dustbin / pavement / main drains).
- The teacher can then divide the class in small groups, each to produce a short history on one of these inventions.
- Ask each group to present their story to the rest of the class.

6 - HYGIENE FRESCO

Objectives :
- Promote awareness of hygiene history and discoveries through the ages.
- Draw other pupils' and parents' attention to the importance of personal hygiene.

Material :
- Poster paper in different colours, large sheets of drawing paper.
- Felt tips, paint.
- Magazines to cut out.

Time : Variable

Method :
- Suggest that the children create a hygiene fresco.
- List the various components (posters, captions, drawings, photos, etc.).
- From the items they have collected, get each child to do a drawing, a collage or a montage illustrating someone's involvement with landmark events in the history of hygiene and health (discovery of microbes, vaccine, penicillin, the first pavements, invention of the bath-tub, toothbrush, soap, etc.).
- Caption the fresco.
- The result should demonstrate the need for good hygiene, in or out of the home, and the actions required to achieve it.
- Display the fresco in the school so other pupils and parents are made aware that hygiene is important for health.

7 - HISTORY OF THE HANDKERCHIEF

Objective :
- An introduction to the handkerchief and how it evolved.

Material : Pupil's sheet no. 5.

Time : 30 minutes

Method :
The exercise can be done individually or collectively.
- Read the text (teacher or pupils).
- Answer the questions.
- Emphasize the importance of blowing our nose, and using disposable handkerchiefs.

Correction :
1) On their shoulder / around their neck.
2) In Italy
3) Round and triangular / rectangular
4) Louis XVI
5) Hygienic