Bacteria and Me

1. Prior Knowledge Investigation Bacteria and Me Sarah L. Wood

2. The Interview Discussed future plans with Mr. McGuigan Decided to start at the beginning of a new unit on Bacteria Pulled five students aside for in depth interviews Took field notes of conversation

3. The Questions Can you tell me about vaccines? What do bacteria look like? Do you think most bacteria are harmful or helpful? How can bacteria harm you? How can bacteria help you? How are bacteria, viruses, fungi, and germs different or similar? Why might we use antibacterial soap? How many bacteria do you think are on this tile? (The tile was one square foot.)

4. The Common Misconceptions All bacteria are harmful We get sick when bacteria touch us Bacteria, viruses, fungi, and germs are all the same Vaccines, antibiotics, antibacterial products, and painkillers are all the same Antibacterial soap immediately kills every single bacterium Bacteria are large, many-celled organisms

5. The Quotes All bacteria are harmful “We never want bacteria because they’re like germs.” “Bacteria hurt you and can make you sick.” “All bacteria are bad – bad for us.”

6. The Quotes We get sick when bacteria touch us “If it gets on your skin, then you get sick because it touches you.” “If it gets inside your body, then it eats away at your insides.”

7. The Quotes Bacteria, viruses, fungi, and germs are all the same “I thought they were all the same!” “Fungi are things that grow on your skin. Bacteria, viruses, and germs are all the same.”

8. The Quotes Vaccines, antibiotics, antibacterial products, and painkillers are all the same “It’s [vaccine] a shot made from chemicals that protects us from viruses.” “I think bacteria make them [vaccines] and we take it as a medicine and it cures us of disease.” “Antibioticsand vaccines are the same thing. Vaccines are shots, but antibiotics are pills.” “Tylenol and Alieve are antibiotics.” “Aren’t antibiotics like Lysol or Dial soap?”

9. The Quotes Antibacterial soap immediately kills every single bacterium “We use antibacterial soap to kill all the bacteria on our hands” “I guess it [washing hands longer] wouldn’t matter since the soap kills all the bacteria as soon as it touches them.” “Soap kills bad bacteria, but it leaves good ones”

10. The Quotes Bacteria are large, many-celled organisms “They [bacteria] have a lot of cells and are slimy.” “Bacteria have cells like humans.” “I think probably ten bacteria live on that tile “There could be a hundred!, but we can’t see them because you can only see with a microscope.”

11. The Literature Gillen A. L. & Williams R. P. Microbe phobia & kitchen microbiology. The American Biology Teacher. January, 1991. “Microbiology is a difficult subject to introduce to students. The new media publish many articles about microbes that cause disease but few articles about microbes that are useful. Students have the impression that microbes are harmful and they fear studying them. We call this attitude microbe phobia, or a fear of microbes. The teacher must convince impressionable students that many microorganisms make products that we use every day and that microbes have an important role in our life (pg. 10).”

12. The Literature Gillen A. L. & Williams R. P. Microbe phobia & kitchen microbiology. The American Biology Teacher. January, 1991. “Most students associate the word germ with any bacteria or microorganism. This exercise is designed to clear the misconception that most germs make us sick. Microorganisms are responsible for more benefits to man and life than most students realize. Microorganisms are responsible for more good than harm (pg. 11).”

13. The Lesson Plan Major Goal of Lesson Plan Overcome misconception that all bacteria are harmful Method: explain how some could be explain how most aren’t I wanted to achieve this through the… Emerging Common Themes What bacteria really are Medical applications of bacteria could have been a result of my questions

14. The Lesson Plan Engage. Introduce the organism using prior knowledge Explore. Design an experiment that focused on the importance of handwashing in preventing disease Explain. Investigate relationships between germs, bacteria, fungi, viruses, pathogens, and disease via word puzzle Focal Shift to benefits of bacteria Explain. Discover relationships between vaccines, antibiotics, and antibacterial products via word puzzle Elaborate. Provide extension to the food industry by brainstorming other benefits of bacteria Format

15. The Lesson Plan Standards Addressed NSES A: The students should develop an understanding about the abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry. NSES F: The students will develop an understanding of personal health, natural hazards, and risks and benefits. Life Science SOL 5: The student will investigate and understand how organisms can be classified including the distinguishing characteristics of kingdoms of organisms.

16. The Lesson Plan Standards Partially Addressed NSES C: The students should develop an understanding of structure and function in living systems and reproduction Life Science SOL 2: The student will investigate and understand that all living things are composed of cells including cell structure and organelles. Life Science SOL 9: The student will investigate and understand interactions among populations in a biological community including the relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in food webs and symbiotic relationships.

17. The Lesson Plan Evaluation Performance Criteria Evidence Students should explain that bacteria are single-celled and contain some cell structures. Students should explain that some bacteria are harmful and precautions should be taken to prevent disease. Students should explain how bacteria are helpful. Students draw their own bacteria and label structures. Students Participate in “Caught Dirty-handed” activity and submit explanations on worksheet. Students submit word puzzle and two ways bacteria are helpful.

18. The Results Effective Reshaping of Misconceptions! Evidenced By Worksheets How could bacteria be harmful if you didn’t wash your hands before preparing food for your family? “If you had harmful bacteria like Salmonella on your hands and then didn’t wash up before preparing food, then the bacteria would get into the food and then your family would eat it and get it inside them and they would get sick.” “If restaurants didn’t have such strict rules about employees washing their hands then the employees might get some sort of disease on the food from their hand and then the people would be poison with the disease and sue or not come back.” Both made a distinction between disease and non-disease causing bacteria by specifically naming Salmonella or by using the word disease. Q. A. A.

19. The Results Effective Reshaping of Misconceptions! Evidenced By Worksheets How can bacteria be helpful? “They are used to make some of our food” “They are used to make vaccines” “Some bacteria can be good for your blood.” (When asked about the last answer, the student said he was referring to vitamin K and its effect on blot clot formation.) The students have clearly demonstrated their understanding that bacteria are helpful. Q. A. A. A.

20. The Results I benefited! Experience Insight into the art of lesson-constructing Importance of prior knowledge I hope, in the words of Gillen and Williams, that I have “convinced impressionable students that many microbes have an important role in our life (pg. 10)”

21. Bibliography Gillen, A. L. & Williams, R.P. (1991). Microbe phobia & kitchen microbiology. The American Biology Teacher, 53(1), 10-11.