4 Microbiome Educational Activities for the Classroom

4 Microbiome Educational Activities for the Classroom

Four different activities help educators from K-12 and undergraduate teach students about the importance of the human microbiome. Want to teach about the importance of the human microbiome, but don’t really know where to start? The ASM education blog released a post – Bring the Magic of the Microbiome to Your Classroom – pulling together four of the microbiome exercises that have been published in JMBE recently. Take a look at these different classroom microbiome activities. I especially, love that there’s one – Microbe Motels – for K-8 and am looking forward to trying it out! Check out the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education (JMBE) published by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). JMBE is the educational journal of the society and features excellent classroom activities. It’s open access and even FREE for members to publish in! WIN WIN!

Book Review:”Let Them Eat Dirt” – Save Your Child by Saving Their Microbes!

Book Review:”Let Them Eat Dirt” – Save Your Child by Saving Their Microbes!

  “Let Them Eat Dirt: Saving Your Child from an Oversanitized World” provides suggestions for a microbially rich and healthy childhood. Let Them Eat Dirt: Saving Your Child from an Oversanitized World talks directly to parents about the importance of microbes to your young kids. Authors  Brett Finlay, PhD and Marie-Claire Arrieta, PhD have an excellent message – let kids get dirty and quit abusing antibiotics. Let Them Eat Dirt is an engaging read clearly written and written clearly by scientist parents who have been in the “parenting trenches”. This microbiome parenting book is a fun read. Several times I laughed out loud at the references to pregnancy and parenting woes. As a scientist, I appreciated their overall message about the importance of microbes to our health.

“Gut Check:The Microbiome Game” the Reprinting!

“Gut Check:The Microbiome Game” the Reprinting!

Professionally printed version of Gut Check:The Microbiome Game available as a promotion for a limited time from Qiagen. Fecal transplant? Plasmids? Nosocomial Infections? Microbiome? Whether you’re teaching microbiology or just interested in a fun, biologically correct game for family game night, Gut Check is your game. Available for a year or so as a PDF printable, Gut Check has been revised and as is available for purchase through MOBIO for a limited time. >UPDATED 5/6/21 – Pre-printed copies of Gut Check are offered as promotional material from Qiagen. Please see the PDF printable link if you would like to download and print your own copy!< Gut Check: The Microbiome Game Overview For the uninitiated  uncolonized, Gut Check is a board game about the microbes living in your gut and how different life events affect the microbes and your health. I reviewed the game in 2015, so check that post for details. In summary, players start with a positive gut score and attempt to build their beneficial microbiome and reap its benefits while avoiding antibiotics and pathogens. Events in the game include everything from bus trips and going to work sick to eating veggie-filled pizza and synthesizing vitamins. Antibiotics and antibiotic resistance

MEGA:Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance in Action

Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest problems facing human health, but it’s sometimes hard to believe something without experiencing it first-hand or seeing it. An excellent story behind the videos came out in the Atlantic showing just that! The videos below save you the inconvenience and possibly life-threatening experience of having a pathogen evolve antibiotic resistance in or on your body. Instead – just watch.

FDA Bans Antiseptics: One Small Step for Bacteria and Humankind

FDA Bans Antiseptics: One Small Step for Bacteria and Humankind

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned 19 antiseptic chemicals from over-the-counter soaps, hand and body washes. Citing concerns over long-term human safety and increased selection for antibiotic resistance, the FDA banned antiseptic chemicals on September 2, 2016. Antimicrobial washes also didn’t perform better than standard soap and water [1, 2]. Despite these findings and concerns, toothpaste, “First aid antiseptics”, antiseptic wipes, health care antiseptics, consumer antiseptic rubs, or antiseptics used by food industry CAN continue to use these 19 antiseptic chemicals [3-5]. Triclosan and triclocarban found in products including mouthwash, toothpaste, soaps, shoes, and toys, are two well-known antibiotics now banned from use in washes.