Week Three

A: What science ideas did you learn?
Q: This week we learned about how bacteria is small compared to a pinhead. It was so small that most of it was a simulation. We also learned how to use a petri dish. We also made a prediction chart of what we thought was a clean or dirty area of the bathroom.
Clean
- mirrror
- water
- outside of door
Dirty
- floor
- Flusher
- sink handle
- lock
For the middle category (ok), I put toilet paper. So this week we learned the difference between macroscopic, microscopic, and sub-microscopic. We determined that big means looking macroscopic, microscopic means very small, and sub-microscopic means that you can not even see it under a microscope.
A: How did you learn these ideas?
Q: We learned how small bacteria was by looking at a simulation. The link was http://www.cellsalive.com/howbig.htm. The simulation helped me realize how small germs and bacteria are. I learned how to use a petri dish by taking samples from dirty or clean areas in the bathroom.
A: Why is it important to know this idea (what real world application is there)?
Q: It's important to know these ideas if you ever need to test the cleanliness of an area. For example, if the flu strikes and you wouldwant to examine the areas of common use for bacteria. You would need to use a petri dish.
A: How does bacteria that's sub-microscopic spread ro a deadly amount?
Q: It spreads by multiplying. It reproduces and has hundreds of thousands more bacteria. It then keeps reproducing until the bacteria is living on top of each other. It also uses the energy off of the object to continue living.