January 2021 Ongoing
Our Meet the Microbes program is funded by the Society for Applied Microbiology (now Applied Microbiology International, AMI). The project runs as a two days’ workshop where we cover practical aspects of biology, chemistry and microbiology.
During our program we explore the microbial presence in our hands and the importance of hand washing with our workshop The Chemistry behind soap making. We also discuss the application of probiotics with two other workshops, How do we make yogurt? and How does yeast work and how can we use it to our advantage?.
On day two we run 4 parallel stalls to explore:
- Life behind Yogurt and Bread: to understand the differences between gram positive and gram negative bacteria and get got hands-on practice with microscope handling.
- A zoo in your pond: samples from a pond nearby are taken and explored under a microscope.
- Make your own microbe!: printouts with different types of microbes and plasticine are given so that learners can build the microbe of their choice while discussing the role of those microbes in different human diseases.
- Microalgae: to observe and understand that commonly found algae in ponds can also be used to our advantage to produce vitamins
To make the program sustainable we also conduct a session with the science educators (prior to the workshops with the learners) where we cover best practice in science communication.
So far we have run this project in 8 schools in Nepal and 4 schools in Scotland. If you would like us to run this workshop in your educational centre, please get in touch!
