Yucky Germs! (A science experiment for kids)

This is a fun little science experiment to do with your class when you are teaching them about germs.  We used a bread with NO preservatives in it.  The "clean" piece of bread was put into the bag using tongs and did not touch any human hands.  The "dirty" piece of bread was touched by every student in my 1st grade science class with dirty hands.  Our hands  had been coughed on and rubbed on noses purposely so we would have lots of germs on them.  We washed hands after passing the bread, of course.  The kids did an observation with drawing and writing that included a prediction about what would happen.  Then we did a follow up observation after 4 weeks when there still was not much on the dirty bread.  We just did our third and final observation last week with a result that was very much like our original predictions.  This experiment came from a helpful book that has lots of ideas and templates for science.  It is called Science Through the Year  by Teacher Created Resources.  This book is listed for grades 1-2.  It has many of the important first grade concepts included.  Many of the ideas and worksheets are appropriate for Kindergarten as well.  This experiment took about 6-8 weeks for the mold to finally show up.  In the book it suggests to leave it for two weeks, ours took much longer.  But, wow, what a result, and the clean bread still does not have a speck of mold on it!  To get the book just click on the link below.