Skip to content

How Germs Travel Map

Run the How Germs Travel Map MicroSim Fullscreen

You can embed this MicroSim in your own course website with this iframe:

<iframe src="./main.html" width="100%" height="492px" scrolling="no"></iframe>

About this MicroSim

How Germs Travel Map is an interactive MicroSim for this health-education textbook.

Students identify and explain the common paths germs travel between people, surfaces, and objects in a classroom scene.

Use the controls in the panel below the drawing to interact with the model, then talk through what changed and why. The MicroSim is width-responsive and can be embedded in any course page with the iframe shown above.

Bloom's Taxonomy level: Understand (L2) — explain, identify, describe

Lesson Plan

Audience

This MicroSim is designed for Grade 1. For the K-3 bands the teacher typically drives the activity on a shared screen; older students can explore the MicroSim independently.

Learning Objective

Students identify and explain the common paths germs travel between people, surfaces, and objects in a classroom scene.

This activity targets Bloom's Understand (L2) (explain, identify, describe).

Suggested Use (about 10 minutes)

  1. Warm up (2 min). Ask students what they already know about the topic and let one volunteer describe what they see on the screen.
  2. Model it (3 min). Demonstrate the interaction once, thinking aloud so students hear the reasoning behind each choice.
  3. Guided practice (3 min). Invite students to try the interaction and to predict what will happen before they act.
  4. Discuss (2 min). Ask why the result came out the way it did, connecting the on-screen result back to the learning objective above.

Check for Understanding

Have each student (or pair) explain their result in one sentence, using the vocabulary from this chapter. Look for reasoning that matches the Understand-level objective rather than a lucky guess.

Specification

The full specification below was extracted from Chapter 5: Healthy Habits, Activity, and Germs.

Type: microsim
**sim-id:** how-germs-travel-map<br/>
**Library:** p5.js<br/>
**Status:** Specified

Bloom Taxonomy: Understand (L2)
Bloom Taxonomy Verb: explain, identify, describe

Learning objective: Students identify and explain the common paths germs travel between people, surfaces, and objects in a classroom scene.

Canvas layout:
- Left area (450px): A simple classroom scene showing a student sneezing, a shared doorknob, a shared water fountain, a shared toy bin, and two students shaking hands
- Right area (150px): Infobox and a "Show Germ Path" toggle button

Visual elements:
- Five labeled hotspots in the classroom scene: sneeze droplets, doorknob, water fountain, toy bin, handshake
- Small dotted arrow animation showing germs moving from one hotspot to a hand icon when selected

Interactive controls:
- Click each hotspot to reveal how germs could spread from that spot
- Button: "Show Germ Path" (animates a simple dotted line from the hotspot to a hand, then to a face)
- Button: "Reset"

Default parameters:
- Scene opens with all five hotspots visible and unselected

Data Visibility Requirements:
  Stage 1: Show the classroom scene with five hotspots, no labels
  Stage 2: After a click, show a one-sentence explanation of that germ path ("Sneezing without covering your mouth sends tiny droplets into the air that others can breathe in.")
  Stage 3: Show the "Show Germ Path" animation connecting the hotspot to a hand and then a face, reinforcing the hand-to-face connection

Behavior:
- Each hotspot reveals its explanation and animated path when clicked
- A final summary caption appears after all five hotspots are explored: "Germs travel from surfaces and people to your hands, and then to your face — washing your hands breaks that path!"

Instructional Rationale: This is an Understand-level (explain/identify) objective, so the MicroSim uses clickable hotspots with concrete captions and a simple path animation rather than continuous animation, helping students trace exactly how germs move step by step.

Implementation notes: Use p5.js. Keep the scene light-hearted, not scary — germs can be shown as small friendly-looking dot characters rather than frightening monsters. Teacher facilitates discussion after each reveal.

References