This article by Year 6 students Jonathan Fernando and Seriah Tan will feature in this weeks Redcliffe Herald newspaper, which will be available online and in stores tomorrow.
This term in Science, Year Six students at Mueller College have been investigating the interesting and sometimes disgusting microorganisms and what they need to survive.
For some brief info, microorganisms are living creatures that you need a microscope to see and range in the forms of bacteria, fungi and many other forms. Microorganism can live anywhere on Earth where there is liquid, the right temperature and a food source.
The students first looked at yeast. Yeast is a single celled fungus used in bread. For the experiment on yeast they had four bottles filled with different containers and ingredients and a balloon on top. Students were to predict the possible outcomes of the balloons (which ones would inflate and which ones wouldn’t). The bottle with warm water mixed with yeast and sugar was the only balloon that inflated because the yeast devoured the sugar, releasing CO2 and made enough air to inflate the empty balloon. According to some students the activity was fascinating and quite interesting.
The students also learned about mould and what it needs to survive. The students got to do a gross experiment to see what environment allowed mould on bread to grow faster. The students put bread in a zip lock bag and put their bread in different environments. Each day students were grossed out to see mould growing and they found out that mould grows best when the bread is damp and it is warm. Many of the students said it was the most disgusting thing that they had seen.
Year Six students also liked using playdoh to make models of bacteria and viruses. They can’t wait to do more disgusting experiments with microorganisms.
