Bacteria!
Materials:
2 petri dishes per pair
1 pump of hand sanitizer per kid
Parafilm (use as needed per dish)
Lesson Objectives:
 What are bacteria? Bacteria are microorganisms that
are super duper small—so small that we can only see
them under a microscope.
 Where do we find bacteria? Everywhere! Bacteria are
in the air, on the ground, in our bodies.
 All bacteria are bad? FALSE!! Teach the kids that
bacteria are both good and bad for you, and that in fact,
most of the bacteria in your body help defend against
certain sicknesses and are necessary for daily
processes like digestion.
o Good bacteria = mutualistic
o It is true that some are harmful for us—these
are called pathogens, which are parasitic and
can cause diseases.
o Thankfully, we have things like antibiotics
which can fight off bad bacteria, and even things
like soap and hand sanitizer can help protect us
 Bacteria come in different shapes—rod, spirals,
spheres (draw on board if you want)
 Fun fact: in a single gram of soil, there are over 40
million bacteria.
 How do we study bacteria? Scientists grow them on
petri dishes filled with a jelly like material called agar,
which is essentially just sugar (which bacteria love!)
o Connect this to why eating so much sugar is bad
for your teeth
Experiment Procedures:
1. Split kids into pairs, and give each pair 2 plates. Label
one as “sanitized” and the other as “non-sanitized.”
2. Dirty plate: imagine that the dish is split in half. Have
each kid GENTLY wipe their fingers on the agar so
that they don’t break the agar (one half of the plate
belongs to each kid)
3. Label each half with the kids’ names.
4. IMMEDIATELY have scouts parafilm the plates after
this.
5. Clean plate: have kids clean their hands with hand
sanitizer, then touch the agar with their clean hands.
6. Parafilm immediately and label. Never open plates after
they are closed.
7. Stack, tape, and label the plates with session time,
school, and SL.
8. Scouts will take the plates back to RRI 3rd Floor (there
will be a sign on a door). Place in silver shelves to the
right of the room that says “place scout plates here”—
place gel side up (will look upside down) and return
them the following week for analysis.
9. Week after: bring plates to the 2nd silver door on the
right—put plates in red biohazard trashcan, and close
the lid.
Buzz words
Mutualistic
Buzz Words
Parasitic/pathogens
Antibiotics