Skip to content
Ellis Abel Learns.

In my own words · Atlantic City, NJ

Why I love germs

Astronaut Ricky Arnold processes swab samples of microbes collected from space station surfaces at a work station. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Germs" page — read by families in Atlantic City, NJ.
Astronaut Ricky Arnold processes swab samples of microbes collected from space station surfaces at a work station. NASA · Public domain
  • They are alive and they are everywhere.
  • Most of them are not out to get me.
  • Washing hands actually works, and there is a reason.

You can love germs in Atlantic City.

What it really is

Germs are living things too small to see, and most are harmless or helpful.

Three things to try today

  1. Wash one hand properly and leave the other.
  2. Find out how long twenty seconds feels.
  3. Find out why soap works.
Astronaut Ricky Arnold processes swab samples of microbes collected from space station surfaces at a work station. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Germs" page — read by families in Atlantic City, NJ.
Astronaut Ricky Arnold processes swab samples of microbes collected from space station surfaces at a work station. NASA · Public domain

For the grown-up reading this

A child in Atlantic City, NJ who loves germs is not unusual. A child in Atlantic City, NJ who is told that loving germs is unusual — that is the problem. The Atlantic City–Hammonton, NJ metro area has about 372,047 residents, ranking 152nd in the country.

Soap breaks the fat layer around many microbes. It is chemistry, not magic.

If the kid who loves this is a girl

Read what one popular teacher said to one little girl who took out the classroom trash without being asked — and what that girl did with the rest of her life.

Girls are great at math — Atlantic City, NJ →

Love something else too

A research laboratory seen from outside through a glass window, with a scientist inside preparing samples for analysis. Real USGS photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Science" page — read by families in Atlantic City, NJ.Why I love scienceA wide-angle view of the flight control room of NASA's Mission Control Center, filled with rows of consoles and display screens. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Technology" page — read by families in Atlantic City, NJ.Why I love technologyLong rows of black cabinets housing the Discover supercomputer at the NASA Center for Climate Simulation. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Computers" page — read by families in Atlantic City, NJ.Why I love computersTwo small AstroPi Raspberry Pi computers with camera modules floating in the Columbus laboratory of the space station. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Coding" page — read by families in Atlantic City, NJ.Why I love codingA close-up of one row of the Discover supercomputer, showing about 2,000 processors stacked in cabinets with cabling. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Data" page — read by families in Atlantic City, NJ.Why I love dataThe Robonaut 2 humanoid robot, with a gold-visored head and two jointed arms, mounted inside the Destiny laboratory of the space station. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Robotics" page — read by families in Atlantic City, NJ.Why I love robotsThe tracked crawler-transporter carries a mobile launcher platform and twin solid rocket boosters along the crawlerway toward Launch Pad 39A. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Engineering" page — read by families in Atlantic City, NJ.Why I love engineeringThe International Space Station with its newly attached Destiny laboratory, photographed from space shuttle Atlantis above a cloud-covered Earth. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Space" page — read by families in Atlantic City, NJ.Why I love space

Near Atlantic City

Why I love germs, everywhere in the US · All things to love · STEM jobs you could do · Summer camps in Atlantic City