Five Teams of Microbes

Grade Levels: 3 - 6

Overview

Students are introduced to the characteristics of microbes.

Objectives

• Students will gain a frame of reference for understanding the size of microbes.
• Students will learn about the general qualities of one of the five kinds of microbes.
• Students will work in teams to find information on a website.

Materials

• Poster board and markers to make a large poster based on the handout (prior to class)
• A ball (for example, a baseball or kickball)
• Microbe handout

Procedure

1. Before class begins, make a large poster resembling the handout. Attach it to the wall at a height that lets students write on it.
   
   
2. Take the class and the ball out to the playing field or another similar size area. Once there, ask the students, "How big is a microbe?" Wait until you get a few answers, then explain it to them this way:
   
   Let's pretend that this ball is a virus, one kind of microbe. At this scale, a bacterium would be the size of the class standing together as a group. A single human cell would be about the size of the entire field. And the human body would be the entire planet Earth. The ball versus Earth: that’s how big – or really how tiny – a microbe is.
   
   
3. While still out in the field, have the class break into five teams: Bacteria, Archaea, Fungi, Viruses, and Protists. Let them do it in much the same way they choose teams during recess: quickly choose five captains who in turn will select team members.
   
   
4. Go to the computer lab. Pass out the handout to each team captain. The captains are responsible for making sure each member has a role in helping to fill out their section of the chart and that the team works together. They will be graded on this. Write the following URL on the board where all can see: http://www.microbe.org/microbes/what_is.asp . This is the site they should use to gather their information. Tell the students they can print out photos from the Internet, but shouldn't paste them onto their worksheets yet.
   
   
5. When they have finished, return to then classroom and have each team write their information on the poster you made.

Assessment

See Microbe Rubric.

Extensions

• Browse the entire "Stalking the Mysterious Microbe" website at http://www.microbe.org/index.html . There are many additional activities and inquiries here. Look in particular at the "News" and "Experiment" sections.