Blast a Biofilm: A Hands-On Activity for School Children and Members of the Public

Microbial biofilms are very common in nature and have both detrimental and beneficial effects on everyday life. Practical and hands-on activities have been shown to achieve greater learning and engagement with science by young people (1, 4, 5). We describe an interactive activity, developed to intro...

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Autores principales:	Victoria L. Marlow, Tristan MacLean, Helen Brown, Taryn B. Kiley, Nicola R. Stanley-Wall
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2013
Materias:	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/557bcbacbb7248f89e9b60947dfaaba9
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:557bcbacbb7248f89e9b60947dfaaba92021-11-15T15:18:41ZBlast a Biofilm: A Hands-On Activity for School Children and Members of the Public10.1128/jmbe.v14i2.5631935-78851935-7877https://doaj.org/article/557bcbacbb7248f89e9b60947dfaaba92013-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.v14i2.563https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7877https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7885Microbial biofilms are very common in nature and have both detrimental and beneficial effects on everyday life. Practical and hands-on activities have been shown to achieve greater learning and engagement with science by young people (1, 4, 5). We describe an interactive activity, developed to introduce microbes and biofilms to school age children and members of the public. Biofilms are common in nature and, as the favored mode of growth for microbes, biofilms affect many parts ofeveryday life. This hands-on activity highlights the key concepts of biofilms by allowing participants to first build, then attempt to ‘blast,’ a biofilm, thus enabling the robust nature of biofilms to become apparent. We developed the blast-a-biofilm activity as part of our two-day Magnificent Microbes event, which took place at the Dundee Science Centre-Sensation in May 2010 (6). This public engagement event was run by scientists from the Division of Molecular Microbiology at the University of Dundee. The purpose of the event was to use fun and interesting activities to make both children and adults think about how fascinating microbes are. Additionally, we aimed to develop interactive resources that could be used in future events and learning environments, of which the blast-a-biofilm activity is one such resource. Scientists and policy makers in the UK believe engaging the public with research ensures that the work of universities and research institutes is relevant to society and wider social concerns and can also help scientists actively contribute to positive social change (2). The activity is aimed at junior school age children (9–11 years) and adults with little or no knowledge of microbiology. The activity is suitable for use at science festivals, science clubs, and also in the classroom, where it can serve as a tool to enrich and enhance the school curriculum.Victoria L. MarlowTristan MacLeanHelen BrownTaryn B. KileyNicola R. Stanley-WallAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691Biology (General)QH301-705.5ENJournal of Microbiology & Biology Education, Vol 14, Iss 2, Pp 252-254 (2013)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
spellingShingle	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Victoria L. Marlow Tristan MacLean Helen Brown Taryn B. Kiley Nicola R. Stanley-Wall Blast a Biofilm: A Hands-On Activity for School Children and Members of the Public
description	Microbial biofilms are very common in nature and have both detrimental and beneficial effects on everyday life. Practical and hands-on activities have been shown to achieve greater learning and engagement with science by young people (1, 4, 5). We describe an interactive activity, developed to introduce microbes and biofilms to school age children and members of the public. Biofilms are common in nature and, as the favored mode of growth for microbes, biofilms affect many parts ofeveryday life. This hands-on activity highlights the key concepts of biofilms by allowing participants to first build, then attempt to ‘blast,’ a biofilm, thus enabling the robust nature of biofilms to become apparent. We developed the blast-a-biofilm activity as part of our two-day Magnificent Microbes event, which took place at the Dundee Science Centre-Sensation in May 2010 (6). This public engagement event was run by scientists from the Division of Molecular Microbiology at the University of Dundee. The purpose of the event was to use fun and interesting activities to make both children and adults think about how fascinating microbes are. Additionally, we aimed to develop interactive resources that could be used in future events and learning environments, of which the blast-a-biofilm activity is one such resource. Scientists and policy makers in the UK believe engaging the public with research ensures that the work of universities and research institutes is relevant to society and wider social concerns and can also help scientists actively contribute to positive social change (2). The activity is aimed at junior school age children (9–11 years) and adults with little or no knowledge of microbiology. The activity is suitable for use at science festivals, science clubs, and also in the classroom, where it can serve as a tool to enrich and enhance the school curriculum.
format	article
author	Victoria L. Marlow Tristan MacLean Helen Brown Taryn B. Kiley Nicola R. Stanley-Wall
author_facet	Victoria L. Marlow Tristan MacLean Helen Brown Taryn B. Kiley Nicola R. Stanley-Wall
author_sort	Victoria L. Marlow
title	Blast a Biofilm: A Hands-On Activity for School Children and Members of the Public
title_short	Blast a Biofilm: A Hands-On Activity for School Children and Members of the Public
title_full	Blast a Biofilm: A Hands-On Activity for School Children and Members of the Public
title_fullStr	Blast a Biofilm: A Hands-On Activity for School Children and Members of the Public
title_full_unstemmed	Blast a Biofilm: A Hands-On Activity for School Children and Members of the Public
title_sort	blast a biofilm: a hands-on activity for school children and members of the public
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2013
url	https://doaj.org/article/557bcbacbb7248f89e9b60947dfaaba9
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Blast a Biofilm: A Hands-On Activity for School Children and Members of the Public

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