Meanwhile, we pulled out the laptops and found some movies of microbes commonly found in pond water on the Internet. Students illustrated a few different protists in their science journals, then described how each one moved (using cilia, a flagellum, or pseudopods). Birds at the pond are not the only creatures who eat microorganisms. We looked for microbes in our food and found bacteria in our yogurt! We stained the bacteria with methylene blue to make it easily visible under the scope. (So cool!)
Now that we have seen how microorganisms can be helpful, it's time to shift gears and study how microorganisms can be harmful.