MudWatt – the Microbial Fuel Cell STEM kid – generates electricity from bacterial poop! Yes, really! The soil under your feet hosts a clean, sustainable source of energy. Geobacter sp. and Shewanella sp., soil bacteria, “poop” electricity. You select the soil, set up the unit, download the app, and wait for the LED to begin blinking. As the number of bacteria increase, the LED blinks faster. The app records and graphs your MudWatt energy, predicts and graphs bacterial populations, and unlocks cool facts and a graphic novel to teach what’s going on. Capture the Waste! When any organisms breaks down food, it releases the energy stored in that food in the form of electrons. With most organisms, from mammals to microbes, the electron “waste” binds to oxygen, iron, or sulfur inside the cell(s) of the organism to conduct other processes. Electrogenic bacteria give off their electrons into the soil around them. An MFC captures those lost electrons using electrodes and wire to complete a circuit and generates electrical current. The energy harnessed can then light up a LED, run a clock, thermometer, or any of a number of other things. Electrogenic bacteria can be found naturally in soils all over