This NASA educational page features Earth's Earliest Ecosystems in the Classroom: a web site dedicated to the use of microbial mats to illustrate and demonstrate general principles of scientific inquiry and microbial ecology. It begins with an introduction to microbial mats and stromatolites. This is followed by an interactive gallery that allows users to view images of different microbial mats and stromatolites. Informational pages describe how microbial mats work and why NASA is interested in microbial mat work. Additional resources are listed in the form of links. The sites lead students on an exploration inside a microbial mat, including an animated video, and introduce them to the types of research at NASA Ames. Real experiments with microbial mats are included with a list of microbial energy resource links and credits.
Subject: Biology:Ecology:Biofilms, Biology:Astrobiology, Microbiology Resource Type: Scientific Resources:Overview/Reference Work, Bibliography, Audio/Visual:Images/Illustrations, Animations/Video, Datasets and Tools:Datasets with Teaching Activities, Activities:Classroom Activity, Lab Activity, Activities Grade Level: High School (9-12), Intermediate (3-5), Middle (6-8)Keyword: microbial ecology
