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The Amazing Microbe Hunters

Abstract:: This activity from our family magazine series provides a fun way for kids to learn about how early microbe discoveries led to later ones. The online activity begins with a page of directions for how to play this "hidden picture" challenge. Kids meet the people behind six key discoveries: Anthony van Leeuwenhoek, Edward Jenner, Louis Pasteur, Alexander Fleming, Jonas Salk, Luc Montagnier, and Robert Gallo. To uncover each portion of the hidden picture (an animated microscope) and move to the next discovery, kids must correctly answer a multiple-choice question about what they just learned.

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Fighting Back! (Lesson)

Abstract:: This lesson describes the major components and functions of the immune system and the role of engineers in keeping the body healthy (e.g., vaccinations and antibiotics, among other things). This lesson also discusses how an astronaut's immune system is suppressed during spaceflight due to stress and other environmental factors.

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Abstract:: Welcome to the Teachers' Corner of Small Things Considered. In this section, we include the posts we deem most adequate for teaching purposes. We have reorganized them into subject areas geared for a typical microbiology course. To date, this material has been used for various forms of intellectual enrichment, e.g., suggested readings, class presentations, a source of topics for term papers. You can also find here our Talmudic Questions, which we characterize as those whose answers cannot be found in Google. We are told that some of these questions have been used in exams ranging from tests for undergraduate courses to qualifying/prelims for graduate students.

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Abstract:: Learn about the challenging research work of several of the outstanding fellowship students at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Explore topics such as antibiotics from the sea, the declining health of our oceans, mapping the seafloor, and factors affecting climate change. (57 minutes)

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Abstract:: Your one-stop source for learning and teaching about evolution. This website includes information about how evolution works, how evolution impacts our lives, evidence for evolution, and the history of evolutionary thought. There's also an entire Understanding Evolution for Teachers sub-site, which includes lesson plans, a conceptual framework, and discussion of classroom situations that may arise when teaching evolution.