Microorganisms

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Microorganisms

• Mrs. McNutt
• And
• Mrs. Brown

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Essential Questions

• What kind of harmful and beneficial
  microorganisms are found in our daily lives?
• How are microorganisms harmful and beneficial?
• How can microorganisms be controlled?

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Standards

• S5L4 Students will relate how microorganisms
  benefit or harm larger organisms.
• Identify beneficial microorganisms and explain
  why they are beneficial.
• Identify harmful microorganisms and explain why
  they are harmful.

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Vocabulary to know

• Virus
• Microorganism
• Fungus

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Microorganism

• What is a microorganism? It is a living thing
  that is too small to see without a microscope. It
  includes amoebas, algae, bacteria, and other tiny
  organisms.
• Some are harmful and helpful.

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How can microorganisms be harmful?

• Do you know of any examples of harmful
  microorganisms?
• Ever heard of Salmonella or E. Coli, these can
  make you very sick.
• They are found on raw chicken and other meat, raw
  eggs, and other foods.

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Harmful microorganisms

• How do you kill the bacteria?
• By cooking it of coursebut if food is left out
  of the refrigerator for two hours or longer,
  harmful bacteria will start to grow on it.

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Do you know that you probably have bacteria on
your skin right now???

• You probably have some staph bacteria on your
  skin.
• Staph can cause pimples and can even cause
  serious infections of the blood, bones, and lungs
  if you are not careful.

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What is a virus?

• A virus is another microorganism that caused
  diseases.
• A virus is even smaller than bacteria. It must
  use a living cell to grow and reproduce.
• Virus can cause colds.

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What about a fungus?

• Do you know that you eat some fungi?
• Can you give any examples?
• Yeast that is in bread, mushrooms, and
  penicillin. These are NOT harmful to you.

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How can a fungus be harmful?

• You have probably found something hidden in the
  back of your refrigerator that has something
  furry and green growing on it.
• You do not want to eat this. Why?

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Harmful mold and other fungi..

• spread through crops and kill them.
• can rot food and wood.
• can cause several kinds of skin diseases like
  athletes foot and ringworm.

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So are there really helpful microorganisms?

• You might be surprised to learn that we can not
  live without microorganisms.
• Without algae and other tiny plants floating in
  the ocean, we would not even have enough oxygen
  to stay alive!

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Algae and Plankton

• These float on the surface of the ocean and is an
  important part of the food chain.

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Microorganisms and food

• Did you know that microorganisms help provide us
  with food? Can you think of any?
• Yes!
• Did you know that on gram of yogurt contains 1
  billion bacteria!!

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Microorganisms and digestion...

• Without microorganisms you would have trouble
  eating any food.
• Certain bacteria in our bodies help digest our
  food.
• Also there many medicines that are produced with
  microorganisms. Have you ever taken penicillin?

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Are there any other uses for microorganisms?

• Yep! Some help remove harmful wastes from sewage
  at water treatment plants.
• Others can help clean up oil spills.
• Microorganisms make dead things decay.