Living in the Microbial World: Teaching Resources

Online Teaching Resources

• 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)}