Family Sanitation - Sanitation in the Home

You will learn how to maintain sanitation in the home through improved handling of animals and waste disposal.

 

Objective:

Families will keep their homes and yards free from disease spread by animals or garbage.

Lesson Preparation

Before the lesson find:

1. Examples of local fencing

2. Safe garbage disposal systems in the community

Concepts to be Taught:

Click on the magnifying glass of any image for enlargement.

1. Animals should be kept out of places where family lives, eats, bathes, and plays.

2. Pet animals should be watched so as not to spread gems and disease.

3. Dispose of garbage in safe and practical ways.

Introduction:

Ask: what kinds of animals does the family have?

Figure #1

Take one of the animals, hold it still and have family discuss where the animal does during the day, how it lives, and where on its body could dirt and germs be (on hair, feet, mouth, etc.) (figure #1)

Concept #1:

Animals should be kept out of places where the family lives, eats, bathes, and plays.

May kinds of animals live in and around our homes. Some farm animals we keep for food and work, some animals are our pets, and others are wild and live around our homes like birds and mice or rats. Animals bring in dirt, hair, and germs as well as animal wastes.

Ways to keep animals out of the home include:

Figure #2

Figure #3

Figure #4

1. Put fences around homes and yards and especially outside cooking areas (figure #2).

2. Place doors or gates across doorways (figure #2).

3. Put pens away from the home for larger animals (figure #3).

4. Keep smaller animals in cages (figure #3).

5. Feed animals away from the house (figure #4).

6. Decide as a family to keep animals out of the home.

7. Do not allow farm animals inside our yard or home.

Learning Activity #1:

List the kinds and numbers of animals that are usually around the house. Decide which methods are needed to keep them out of the house.

Concept #2:

Pet animals should be watched so as not to spread germs and disease.

Figure #5

House pets need to be cared for as to not spread illness or cause harm to family members. Tell the following story: Little Pablito had a dog who was his constant friend and companion (figure #5). This was a little mongrel that Pablito found in the street one day. The dog would play outside in the bushes, come in the house and eat scraps from the table that Pablito would hand to him during dinner. Ask: How could Pablito's dog be spreading germs or illness in the family? (From his hair, pays, from being outside in the dirt and then inside, being around food.)

Ways to keep the family healthy with inside pets includes:

Figure #6

Figure #7

Figure #8

1. Bathe pets often (figure #6).

2. Train animals to urinate and defecate outside or in a special box (figure #7).

3. Clean floors in the home often (#8).

4. Keep animals out of the kitchen and away from family food.

Learning Activity #2:

Discuss the situation of any pets the family may have or may plan to get. Discuss family rules that should be made to apply to having a house pet.

Concept #3:

Dispose of garbage in safe practical ways.

Family garbage an cause disease by providing a place for rodents and insects to live and breed. When garbage is thrown on the ground, it can rot and create odors that will bring rodents and insects to the household area. Ask: What kinds of pests have you noticed around your garbage?

Some garbage can be useful. Food scraps can be fed to family animals. To keep the family healthy:

Figure #9

-feed animals away from the house

-place the food in containers so it will not be spread around (figure #9)

-put food out when the animals are ready to eat it

Figure #10

Food scraps can also be put in a pile and allowed to decompose (rot) and then be mixed in as compost in the family garden (figure #10). We can keep the piles of garbage to be used in the garden safe by keeping it covered. Garbage that decomposes quickly can be buried in a shallow pit and covered with dirt, straw, leaves, grass, or other plant material. There is more information about this from your local gardening experts.

Figure #11

Some families separate their garbage into two containers: food scraps and other materials that can be used for animal food or compost and garbage that will not decompose such as glass, plastic, and metals (figure #11). They dispose of the glass, etc. in the public waste system.

Learning Activity #3:

Have family evaluate their garbage disposal system and what changes can be made.

Review:

Have family members review concepts about household sanitation.

Family Activity:

Family will discuss what changes need to be made in their family management and who will take the responsibility for keeping the home clean, the animals managed, and the garbage cared for properly.

List of figures for lesson 6.3

(Click on the numbered links below to view and print full-sized figures)

1. Family pets.

2. Keep animals out of the house with fences around the home and cooking areas, and by doors or gets across the doorways.

3. Use pens for larger animals and cages for small animals.

4. Keep animals away by feeding them away from the house.

5. Pablito's little dog can carry germs.

6. Keep pets clean by bathing them often.

7. Housebreak animals to go outside or use a special box.

8. Clean floors in the home often.

9. Keep animals out of the kitchen and away from family food. Animals can be fed scraps from the garbage if they are fed from containers, away from the house.

10. Food scraps can be put in the garden and used as compost.

11. To make it easier to use food scraps for animals and gardens, garbage can be separated into two containers: food scraps in one, and glass, metals, paper and plastic in the other.