Did you know that human cells are outnumbered at least ten to one by microbial cells in our bodies? While microbes are typically associated with disease and insufficient hygiene, we could not exist without our microbial friends. Do you enjoy cheese, yogurt, and bread? Thanks go again to microbes!

Microbiology is typically underrepresented in the pre-college science curriculum, yet high school may be the last classroom exposure to science for many people. In a world full of news on gene-splicing and DNA fingerprinting, it is difficult to become an informed citizen without some knowledge of microbiology. Many products we encounter in our daily life would not exist without the help of microbes.

Hands-on activities using low-cost materials for studying microbes in the classroom were presented in a workshop sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology for grade school teachers July 26-30 on the UI campus. Leadership for this annual workshop is awarded through a grant to a different university each year.

What makes your sandwich mold? Should you use antibacterial soaps? What is the role of microbes in bread, yogurt, cheese, chocolate, linen, and glue? Can microbes tell the difference between sugar and artificial sweeteners? Using everyday materials, teams of scientists and science teachers used inquiry-based learning approaches to find answers to these and other questions.

DNA fingerprinting and genetically modified organisms, nitrogen-fixing bacteria and bioluminescence, and natural selection were among the other topics presented to participants from around the country. Ron Crawford, director of the UI Environmental Biotechnology Institute, intrigued his listeners on the subject of detecting life outside the earth as keynote speaker at the Friday night banquet. Robin Patterson from Butler University and Martina Ederer, post-doctoral fellow in microbiology at UI, organized the workshop. Further information is available at the http://www.asmusa.org/ website.

Additional Reading

Bottle Biology: An Idea Book for Exploring the World Through Plastic Bottles and Other Recyclable

Materials by Mrill Ingram

Magnificent Microworld Adventures: Microscopic Topics by Aims Educational Foundation

Power Unseen: How Microbes Rule the World by Bernard Dixon

The Science Class You Wish You Had: The Seven Greatest Scientific Discoveries in History and the People Who Made Them by David Eliot Brody

Microbe Hunter by Paul De Kruf

Viruses and Bacteria by Dennis Holley

Children’s Books on Microbes

Those Mean Nasty Dirty Downright Disgusting But...Invisible Germs by Judith Rice, et al.

The Magic School Bus in a Pickle: A Book About Microbes Magic School Bus Book Series

I Know Why I Brush My Teeth by Kate Rowan

Germs, Germs, Germs by Bobby Katz

Germs Make Me Sick by Melvin Berger

Websites

http://chemfinder.com

http://www.microbeworld.org

http://www.simhq.org/html/kidszone.html

http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/dlc-me/zoo/

http://www.wsu.edu/DrUniverse