Micros & Me

Fifth graders are currently doing a unit of study on micros (microorganisms and microparticles) and how they affect our everyday lives.  Last week, F1 students took cultures from different parts of the school, let them grow inside petri dishes in an incubator, and then observed the growth.  Some students observed yeast, bacteria, and fungi all in the same petri dish!  Yesterday, we conducted a hand washing fair test, where students took before and after cultures of their hands in order to test the effectiveness of different hand washing techniques (e.g. hot water vs. cold water, soap vs. hand sanitizer, etc.).  We are eager to observe the results next week!

As part of this unit, we also used the bacteria in yogurt to make our own yogurt. Students had different opinions about the tastiness of the final product, but it was a fun project nonetheless!