Workshop Four!

Today was the last Hands On session in the hospital school with Elaine Cloutman-Green, our microbiologist. First thing on the Monday morning after half-term the students got back into the project by applying their microbiological knowledge to some creative art projects. 

We looked the results of the sampling we did in the previous session. It was fascinating for us to see what had happened in just 48hrs in the lab. All of the samples we took were completely invisible to us when we collected them. But after some time to grow, the microorganisms we collected were now developed enough for us to see without a microscope. Here are some of the results: 

Nose Swab 

Nothing green and gloopy. Elaine said that our results were very normal, 

everyone has lots of microbes in their nose.

Air sample taken from the classroom

Air sample from an empty room

These yellow agar plates show the types of microorganisms that can be found in the environment. We collected these samples by pressing the plates onto different surfaces and  objects in the class room. Elaine then took the plates away to her lab, where the microbes could grow in their favourite conditions.

After looking at our results we learnt more about the types of microbes we had found. Elaine told us about the environments that different microbes preferred to live (their niche). She also explained how they reproduce and why they had such long and hard to pronounce names! 

The next challenge...........to get creative and invent our own microorganisms!





Everyone had a go at inventing a new type of microorganism by answering the following questions, and creating a personal profile for their invented microbe:


What type of microorganism are you going to choose? (virus, fungi, bacteria?)


What does your microorganism look like? (under a microscope or grown on agar)


Where does your micro-organism live? 
(think whether it is gram positive/gram negative, fungal or a virus)


What does your microorganism eat? (think about where it lives and this will help)


Depending on what your microorganism eats/where it lives, does it cause infection?


Can your microorganism move?


What will you call your microorganism? (think whether you are naming a bacteria, fungi, or virus - are you going to name it after yourself, someone else, where it lives, or in relation to the infection it causes?)


I showed everyone my invented microorganism Combubulous.



There were some outstanding creations and a prize for the person who could come up with the longest name for their microbe. This was Rachel, who seemed to have done some research. She named her lice-munching bacteria 'Antidisestablishliceterianism' (!!) 

 I loved Amy's 'Tresmitis' bacteria. 

 It seemed that several of the girls' invented microbes were hair-related and nearly all our invented microbes had faces.....some even wore hats! They were pretty exaggerated versions of the microorganisms we learnt about with microbiologist Elaine. 

We had all learnt a great deal about real microorganisms and it was fun to think about all these tiny living things, with their own jobs to do, living all around us, but completely invisible to us.