Studies shows that students learn best when learning is active, when they are engaged in hands on activities and are involved in what they are learning. Through hands on activities, learning becomes easier and children can understand and retain information in fun way.

As we were exploring about various tiny creatures, it was time for us to go further in our learning and find about those tiny creatures whom we cannot see from our naked eye. Hence, the geckos did the germ farm activity wherein they got an opportunity to understand about a real-life example which is very common. For this, we took a piece of bread, poured some water on it, locked it up in a zip lock bag and placed it in the inquiry corner. Children were very curious to know what will happen to the bread. A lot of brainstorming was going on when, few kids said – “it will be watery as you have put water on the bread”. Few said – “It will become dirty after few days”. Yet they were all sure about one thing that after few days, the bread will not be fresh and if we eat that bread, we will become sick. Using this prior knowledge of students, we discovered about the fact of microbes as tiny creatures. They understood that microbes are also a kind of tiny creature and they are too small to be seen from naked eyes. They are present everywhere and they are also present in zip lock bag, but we cannot see them. Because of these microbes only, the bread will not be fresh and will not be good to eat. Further, they also reflected that these microbes are germs and they are harmful to all the living things as they make us sick.

The geckos showed a lot of curiosity during the activity and were able to relate it to the real life situation. They were very excited to know more about germs and how they affect us.

Learning Outcome: To enable our Geckos understand that there are tiny creatures which can not be seen through naked eyes, but they have a huge impact on our life.

 

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