Bats, caves, danger and exotic locales. That should catch your students’ attention! The big story here is the co-evolution of viruses and their nonhuman animal hosts, who seem to have a harmless, symbiotic relationship with viruses that cause deadly outbreaks in humans. Though this story is about Marburg virus and a fruit bat, the concepts […]
Archive for the 'Microbiology' Category
Influenza: History, Science, Strains, Detection and Protection
Monday, May 4th, 2009 4:49 pm
Written by: Mary LeFever
Every middle school student has heard of the flu. They may even have had it, or more likely, they have had some other virus described as the flu. Most students would consider the flu unpleasant, but probably not potentially fatal. Now is a good time to help students learn more about influenza. But where do […]
Posted in Topics: Health, Microbiology, Science, Social Perspectives
How Many Bacteria Species Can Coexist on a Single Hand? (And do girls really have cooties?)
Monday, November 10th, 2008 8:43 pm
Written by: Mary LeFever
Sounds like a riddle, but it’s not trivial. We’ll get back to that in a minute. First consider the scenario: The class arrives from physical education. Today’s activity was mat ball, a variation of dodge ball involving lots of kids and lots of contact with balls and mats. They’re pumped, a little sweaty and out […]
Posted in Topics: Cells, Health, Life Science, Microbiology, Science
Posted in Topics: Birds, Ecology, Evolution, Health, Life Science, Microbiology, Science
No Comments