Lesson Plan: Culturing Microorgansims
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to describe the best methods to culture microorganisms and use the process of binary fission to estimate population sizes of bacteria.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- explain how bacteria reproduce by binary fission,
- describe the ideal conditions for microorganisms to grow in vitro,
- calculate numbers of microorganisms grown in a culture,
- describe the practical aspects of microbiological culture,
- describe some risks, challenges, and applications of microbiological culture.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- prokaryotes and unicellular organisms (yeast and fungi),
- diseases caused by microorganisms and the different routes pathogens are spread by,
- the use of antibiotics to kill bacteria.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- cultures of plant and animal cells or tissues.