Living in the Microbial World: Teaching Resources

Online Teaching Resources


Lactic Tubes
  • Cultures, Prepared Slides, Booklets (Sources). This web page lists ordering information, including address and telephone number, for suppliers carrying cultures, prepared slide, booklets, and microbiological culture media.
  • Safe Micro-organism: Micro-organisms for Investigations in Schools and Colleges. This 6-page online safety form lists microorganisms that are considered suitable for use in schools and colleges. It includes a table that describes selected bacteria... (more info)
  • Lactic Acid Bacteria. This on-line exercise is focused on lactic acid bacteria, a group of related bacteria that produce lactic acid as a result of carbohydrate fermentation. It includes a... (more info)
  • 10x PBS. This page includes a protocol for preparing 10x Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS) and tips for sterilizing toothpicks without an autoclave.
  • Growing Slime Mold. This is a short activity for growing the slime mold Physarum polycephalum. It includes materials needed, a three-step procedure, and helpful tips. The site is...(more info)
  • A Simple Method of Growing the Plasmodial Slime Mold. This lab activity offers a simple method for growing Physarum polycephalum, a plasmodial slime mold. It includes a list of materials needed and methods for... (more info)
  • How Many Microbes? This on-line exercise includes a protocol for a dilution plating technique. Students will use samples of soil, compost, mulch and others to get an idea of how numerous and diverse baceria are in these environments.
  • Bring 'em Back Alive. This on-line series of activities demonstrate various techniques for capturing free-living microbes from the environment.
  • Marine Organisms for Aquaria and Their Required Maintenance. This website offers information about ordering and taking care of marine organisms for a 10-gallon aquarium, an economical way for students to observe a mini-intertidal... (more info)

Non-web Teaching Resources


  • Sawdust, Spawn, and Shiitake. This journal article introduces a high school exercise that deals with shiitake, a fungus that plays an important role in the forests of Asia as a decomposer of recently... (more info)
  • The Microcosmos Curriculum Guide to Exploring Microbial Space. This book, a product of a science education program supported by the National Science Foundation, integrates biology and life sciences through hands-on activities... (more info)
  • The Thinking Series/ Inquiry and Learning: Realizing Science Standards in the Classroom. Using national science standards, this 60-page book addresses the question "How does standards-based science instruction look and feel in the classroom?"... (more info)
  • Explore the World Using Protozoa. This book contains 28 hands-on investigations that use protozoa to model macroscopic ecological and biological processes--such as symbiosis, succession, and feeding... (more info)
  • Ciliates by the Slice. This educational journal article details fast and easy methods for collecting benthic ciliates from sandy sediments for identification and quantification... (more info)