Visualizing the Invisible: Class Excursions to Ignite Children’s Enthusiasm for Microbes

Author: mycolabadmin
2020-05-14
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Summary

This paper discusses the importance of making microbes visible and tangible for children through educational field trips and hands-on activities. While microbes are invisible to the naked eye, they have enormous impacts on our daily lives – from the food we eat to our health and the environment. The authors provide comprehensive guidance for organizing class excursions to help children discover and appreciate the microbial world around them. Key impacts on everyday life: – Helps children understand how microbes are essential for producing many common foods like bread, cheese, and yogurt – Demonstrates the role of microbes in maintaining human and environmental health – Shows how microbes are used in important industrial processes and waste treatment – Helps develop informed citizens who can make better decisions about issues like antibiotic use and food safety – Encourages appreciation of beneficial microbes rather than just viewing them as germs that cause disease

Background

There is an urgent need for society to acquire literacy in microbiology, as microbes have pervasive influences on our lives and their roles must be considered in many decisions we face. A significant barrier to attaining widespread appreciation of microbial contributions is that microbes are seldom visible – most people are only peripherally aware of them except when ill with an infection. Disease, rather than positive microbial activities, colors public perception of ‘germs’ and gives them their poor image.

Objective

To promote and provide guidance for class excursions as a powerful means of nurturing interest in microbes by enabling children to experience and engage with the microbial world in a personal and intimate manner. The paper aims to engage teachers, encourage academics to participate in microbiology education, and support schools in their endeavors to make microbes visible and tangible for children.

Results

The paper presents numerous examples of successful approaches to making microbes visible and tangible for children through various types of excursions and hands-on activities. It demonstrates how multi-sensory experiences (sight, touch, smell, taste, sound) can enhance microbiology learning. The authors show how excursions can integrate microbiology with other subjects and highlight both local issues and global challenges.

Conclusion

Class excursions are vital for bringing microbes to life for children and igniting their enthusiasm for microbiology. The authors make specific recommendations for schools, policymakers, universities, funding bodies, and other stakeholders to support and expand microbiology education through excursions. They emphasize that such activities are crucial for developing microbiology literacy in society and enabling evidence-based decision-making about major challenges facing humanity.

Published in:Microbial Biotechnology,
Study Type:Review,
Source: 10.1111/1751-7915.13576