Microorganisms – Invisible Pond Creatures TES OER
Microorganisms are everywhere, and they are nothing to sneeze at!
Microorganisms are living things that are invisible, or cannot be seen with the naked human eye, and we have to use microscopes to enlarge the image so we can study them. They occupy the world around us, like in pond water where they play a crucial part of the ecosystem. It is important that these places have microorganisms, but we don’t want them in our drinking water, and there are ways they can be removed.
Learners are given the opportunity to study our world in a way they have never seen, by magnifying pond water to see the tiny creatures living in it. By investigating this, they can learn about the dangers of ingesting microorganisms, as well as methods to remove them from water to make it drinkable.
Background:
The resource was created as a part of a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) outreach and widening participation initiative. It has been created for use as an Open Educational Resource (OER) by OER Service, the Information Services Group at the University. As an OER, teachers are welcome to make any changes to their resources according to their needs.
Objectives and Success Criteria:
- I can use a light microscope to look at microorganisms that are too small to see normally
- I can identify a range of microorganisms that live in pond water
- I can understand why these microorganisms are important in ponds, but why we don’t want them in our drinking water, and how we can remove them
Experiences and Outcomes:
SCN 2-13a: I have contributed to investigations into the role of microorganisms in producing and breaking down some materials.
Benchmarks: Describes how some micro-organisms break down food causing it to be inedible or harmful if digested, and how others exist in the gut to break down food to aid digestion.
SCN 2-18a: I have investigated different water samples from the environment and explored methods that can be used to clean and conserve water and I am aware of the properties and uses of water.
Take a look at this resource with your class if you’d like to give this fascinating and interactive lesson a go!
Download Alice and Ayushi’s resource by clicking on this link.
‘Microorganisms – Invisible Pond Creatures’ was developed by Alice Buckner and Ayushi Arora, and all content in this package is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Sharealike 4.0 licence.
Header: A microorganism viewed from under a microscope
