Activity 1 "What Germs Are On Our Hands?" Objective This experiment will show the bacteria that are normally found on our hands from daily activities.  When students properly wash their hands and repeat this activity they will also see the importance that normal hand washing has in lowering the number of these bacteria. Materials Needed These are per student and check here for how to obtain supplies. Two petri plates containing agar at room temperature. Procedure 1. Each student needs two agar plates. Have the student write his/her name on both plates and also  label one plate "before hand washing " and the other plate "after hand washing". 2. Students should NOT wash hands prior to this experiment and they SHOULD touch objects about the room as they normally would during the day. 3. Instruct each student to open "before hand washing " petri dish and run fingers gently across the surface of the agar with unwashed fingers being careful not to tear agar. It is important to have them gently rock fingers so that nails make a light imprint into the agar. 4. Close first plate and using proper hand washing technique wash hands and have them repeat the process on second petri dish. That plate should be labeled with name and "after hand washing". 5. Incubate the plates inverted (agar in top) at 35C or room temperature until the next period. (Usually 24 hours at 35C or 48 hours at room temperature.) 6. Record results:                         a. 4+ = maximum growth                         b. 3+ = moderate growth                         c. 2+ = some growth                         d. 1+ = a little growth                         e. neg = no growth 7. Compare colonies to Bacterial Growth Chart  and have students compare number of bacterial colonies before hand washing to after hand washing.