Crafty Microbiology: Teaching Microbiology Skills Online

Crafty Microbiology: Teaching Microbiology Skills Online

Crisis inspires innovation! We developed Crafty Microbiology to teach essential microbiology skills at home using safe, common, cheap craft supplies and disposable lab tools. A.M. Estes, A.S. Jozwick, and J.E. Kerr 2021 How can you teach students fundamental microbiology skills at home – safely? The COVID-19 pandemic has been quite the disruptor for educators and students alike. To stop the spread of this virus, we human hosts need to stay away from each other! SARS-CoV2 is super tricky since many infected people don’t show symptoms or have mild symptoms. So what do you do when the skills your students need to learn can’t be done face-to-face? In-person Microbiology Labs Microbiology laboratory, in particular, is tough to teach to students at home. Typically students learn how to grow and test non-disease-causing bacteria in the Microbiology teaching labs on campus. Growing bacteria requires special media “food” for the bacteria, incubators to keep the cultures at the right temperature, and lab equipment – including Bunsen burners and special tools for moving the bacteria. A fundamental skill is learning “Sterile” or “Aseptic” technique. Students learn how to grow only the non-pathogenic, Risk Group 1 microbes they are given. Sounds easy – right? Well, no.

Foldscope: How Can a Functional Microscope be Made Out of Paper?

Foldscope: How Can a Functional Microscope be Made Out of Paper?

So I keep babbling about Foldscopes because – THEY ARE REALLY COOL! These are out of a Stanford lab developed with funds from the Gates Foundation to help defeat Malaria. As a scientist and mom, there are a trillion things to do with these things. Time and time again, when I talk about these scopes to people I get the same shocked look and question – “How can a PAPER microscope work?” Followed usually by a question on where they can get one for their kid, classroom, science outreach, own backpack/purse. Here’s our experience with the basic Foldscope. Keep in mind, that if you support one of the kits, you get additional accessories. We received the paper scope, lenses, magnetic clips (for cell phone photography), and double stick tape, which is a perfect start. As a certified microbial geek, I had slides and cover slips around the house. Assembly Party We invited a neighborhood friend over for our first “assembly” party. Which was lots of fun! First the girls popped out the scope parts. Watching the assembly video helped us put our scopes together. Differences between Foldscope and Compound Scopes Unlike traditional compound scopes where the lens is in one

11 days left for Foldscope – origami microscopes – on Kickstarter

11 days left for Foldscope – origami microscopes – on Kickstarter

When I first heard that Foldscope was launching a Kickstarter to make these amazing origami paper microscopes available to the public, I put 2 different questions up on several of my social media sites: I’m thrilled out of my mind to be writing a post about this new good quality, “disposable”, CHEAP compound (uses microscope slides) microscope. Oh yeah – it’s 140X magnification – you can see bacteria What would you look at if you had such a thing? It’s practically indestructible (can step on it, throw it off a building, run it through the washing machine), it’s about the size of a 3X5 card and fits in your pocket. Runs on watch battery or just held up to a light. If you are a “career-biologist” – How would you use this to teach people about the wonders of science and our everyday (microscopic) world? If you are not a career-biologist – Just wondering what would be interesting to YOU. Is there anything you’d use it for? The feedback was AMAZING! Check out the suggestions and excitement: From the biologists look at: Take my kids on a TARDIGRADE hunt Pond water, leaf litter, whatever is around me Blood and fecal smears with

Put a Microscope in the Hands of Everyone! Foldscope launches Kickstarter!

Put a Microscope in the Hands of Everyone! Foldscope launches Kickstarter!

Who would you educate with a pocket-sized paper microscope that costs ~ $1? Foldscope launches a Kickstarter campaign to “put a microscope in everyone’s hands.” Want to visit another world full of bizarre and beautiful creatures like you’ve never before imagined? Such a hidden world surrounds you wherever you are – the microscopic world. What? Don’t you have a microscope? Foldscope, a new Kickstarter project, aims to change that. Foldscope is a microscope made out of folded paper, a lens the size of a pinhead, and a piece of plastic to serve as a coverslip over a paper “slide”. With these simple materials, my 8-year-old daughter entered the fascinating microscopic world. Foldscope’s goal is to distribute at least a 1 million paper microscopes around the world to share the mystery and beauty of the hidden world around us. Considering their Kickstarter campaign had 1,000 backers and $40,000 of their $50,000 goal within 2 hours of launch, they are easily positioned to do that. However, they need scientists and educators to help convey the wonder of the microscopic world to the public. As one of the inventors, Manu Prakash told me, “This isn’t just a personal tool, but is about bringing

GIANTmicrobes – When Teachers Throw Things

GIANTmicrobes – When Teachers Throw Things

  Think these little critters are cute? Enter a comment below for a chance to win one!  (contest closed 2/14/2016) How do you understand something you can’t see? That’s the inspiration behind GIANTmicrobes ™, those adorable stuffed microbes 1 million times the size of the actual microbes. Yes, microbe “stuffies”. Better than that, they are plush microbe stuffies based on the shape and features of real microbes, from flagella on E. coli to buds on the Saccharomyces yeast. Additionally, they have cute big eyes and some accessories such as a cape for MRSA and a knife and fork for flesh-eating bacteria to make them even more fun. Be still your beating heart? There are heart cells and all other sorts of microscopic cells too. Why would anyone want a gigantic stuffed microscopic cell? Good question. GIANTmicrobes make teaching, outreach, and every day fun and educational. What are GIANTmicrobes? Microscopic organisms often have an image problem with macro-organisms like us. People either don’t know about them or think they are shapeless blobs. However, microorganisms come in a variety of shapes and interesting structures. Ranging from rods, spheres, chains, or spirals typical of bacteria to bizarre shapes of protists. Cilia, pilli, and flagella