Clean Water for All God’s Children
Objective:
to graphically demonstrate to students the way in which soap causes dirt (and germs) to
be washed away.
Materials Needed:
a pie plate, or something similar; water; black pepper; liquid soap; eye dropper.
Teacher Instructions:
Put about ½” of water in the pie pan. Sprinkle liberally with pepper. Dilute the liquid
soap half and half with water. From the eye dropper, add a few drops of soap solution to
the center of the peppered water. Watch as the pepper quickly ‘retreats’ from the soap!
Tell the students that germs hate soap in just this way!
NOTE: this activity is really just a demonstration of the surfactant properties of soap, but
it’s a fun activity for small children, and helps them to understand the need for healthy
hygiene in combination with clean water.
Rev. 1/06
C’mon,
Marge, let’s
get out of
here!
Day 3: Mission
Germs Hate Soap!
Oh, no!
It’s SOAP!