Questions: Washing Hands and Hygiene

Question 1

Why do you need soap when you wash your hands, not just water?

• A. Soap makes bubbles, which are fun
• B. Soap helps lift germs off your skin so the water can wash them away
• C. Water is too cold to kill germs
• D. Soap changes the color of germs so you can see them

Answer: (B)

Water alone does not do a good job of removing germs because germs cling to the oils on your skin. Soap breaks up those oils and lifts the germs off your skin so that when you rinse with water, the germs wash away down the drain. That is why scrubbing with soap is so important.

Question 2

If your hands look clean, they do not have any germs on them.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

Germs are far too tiny to see with your eyes. Your hands can look perfectly clean and still be covered in germs. That is why you need to wash your hands even when they do not look dirty — especially before eating and after using the bathroom.

Question 3

Name three times during the day when you should wash your hands.

Model answer: Before eating or touching food, after using the bathroom, and after coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nose. Also after playing outside, touching animals, or touching something dirty.

These are the times when germs are most likely to be on your hands or most likely to get inside your body. Before eating is important because your hands go near your mouth. After the bathroom is important because germs from waste can make you very sick. After sneezing or coughing is important to keep from spreading germs to others.