| Author |
Post |
|
|
|
|
Im teaching my students about bacteria and was wondering if anyone had some great labs or activities while teaching about bacteria.
|
|
|
|
|
|
I love having them swab 3 or 4 different areas in the school and then plating the samples and seeing which area has the most bacteria on it. Ive done this both with my freshmen and my seniors in microbiology and it's a big success every time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
My kids seem to like making Winogradsky columns. http://quest.nasa.gov/projects/astrobiology/fieldwork/lessons/Winogradsky_5_8.pdf
Even my neat-freak kids are fascinated by playing with MUD. The bet benefit of the lab is they get to see it change over time, so suspense is constantly building. They're always excited by the growing bands of bacteria. Plus, you can relate them to so many different topics in science: early Earth, astrobiology, extremophiles, chemosynthesis, photosynthesis, biogeochemical cycles, etc. Truly cool lab.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thank you for starting this thread! These are the types of lessons I was looking for as well for my cells unit. I especially like the Winogradsky lesson. I bookmarked it so that I can look into possibly having my students do this lab when I start my cells unit in the next couple of weeks. I need to try and tie it more towards the "what do all living things need to survive" part of the unit as I wanted to use it as an inquiry piece? Thank you again for sharing!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
This isn't something I've done however my son's 7th grade class is in the process. All students were given a small container to bring in a water sample from various places. My son's sample was taken from the swimming pool. When all samples are brought in they will take a look at the various types of bacteria found in the water samples collected. Not sure how it will turn out but there's sure to be a few surprises.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Winogradsky columns sound very interesting- thanks for sharing!
Please be careful about allowing students to swab areas and culturing them. Last year we had a State Safety officer speak to our teachers about Biohazard training and it was advised that we not do anymore "mystery microbe" labs. I used to do it in AP Biology- let the students swab an area then see how effective household cleaners were at inhibiting their growth. This expert advised against it because you don't know exactly what you're culturing and although I'm sure you're following safety procedures, you don't want to expose your students to microbes that could cause diseases. Of course I was bummed because this was an inquiry lab that the students loved and really learned from.
As a result, it's VERY difficult to bring in bacteria through the Department of Ag- even K-12 safe bacteria. Ultimately, I've resorted to using slides and images.
Have you thought about using videos/clips? Contagion is a relative new movie that brings to light mutations and how microbes traveled through animals.
|
|
|
|
|
|
@Lynn,
Ya, Winogradsky Columns roxxor! I haven't tried this, but it could be a cool idea to try to use the bacteria from the mud? The columns are secure, nothing in there can make you sick as far as I know. At the very least, you could probably get some protists (is that still a kingdom? I've heard rumblings that it's not anymore). Actually, I think I might try and get my kids to do this. I just don't know how to take bacteria samples from mud.
|
|