1. Ecological Roles of Bacteria Brieana and Bradley

2. Vocabulary  On the chart answer the “predicted meaning” of each word to the best of your ability.  Then write two sentences using at least 3 of the vocabulary words.  A volunteer from each school will then be asked to read out there sentences.  After the actual meanings of the words will be presented for classes to fill in the rest of their charts.

3. Where?  Bacteria live on/in just about every material and environment on Earth.  From arctic ice to volcanic vents.  From your rug to your dishes.

4. Did you know?!  Each square centimetre of your skin has about 100,000 bacteria!!  Some microbes live on our skin and protect us from harmful agents.  The drier areas, like the back, have few microbes.  Moist areas, such as the armpit, have many more!!

5. Like Plants?  Some bacteria are photosynthetic. Which means they can make their own food from sunlight just like plants.  Also like plants, they give off oxygen

6. Like Worms?  Other bacteria absorb food from the material they live on or in.  Some of these bacteria can live off unusual "foods" such as iron or sulphur.  The microbes that live in your gut absorb nutrients from the food you've digested.

7. Good or Bad?  We are used to thinking of bacteria as disease- causing agents. Indeed, bacteria are at the origin of various worrisome diseases.  However, only a small number of the thousands of bacterial species are pathogenic, meaning disease-causing.  The bodies of humans and animals serve as a natural environment for bacteria. The bacteria that live in our bodies produce and provide us with different vitamins.  Most bacteria do not harm humans at all, and many species of bacteria are even beneficial and vital to our health.

8. Bacteria are part of the food chain  Bacteria and fungi are decomposers. They break down waste products and dead organisms for food. These broken-down materials are returned to the soil to be recycled and reused by plants. An example of this would be a fungus growing on a log. Although decomposers are very important to the ecosystem, they are not usually shown in food-chain models.

9. Vocabulary Meanings 1  Helicobacter Pylori : Bacterium that causes ulcers in the soft mucus lining of the digestive system of mammals  Mutate : Undergo change in the genetic material as a result of some irregularity that happens during cell division  Ulcers : An open spore.  Free living : Not dependant on the presence or activities of other organisms for survival. Earthworms and planarian worms are considered to be free living because they survive off of dead organic matter

10. 2  Decomposer : Organisms that lives off dead matter, dismantling the molecules and returning them to the soil in the form of nutrients  Nitrifying Bacteria : Type of soil that converts nitrogen from the atmosphere into an ionic form (like nitrates) which can be taken up by plants.  Recombinant DNA : DNA which is constructed out of molecules from more than one species. Recombinant DNA is used to insert gene sequences into the chromosome of other organisms. This technique is used in medicine in the manufacture of protein medicines, and in agriculture to produce hybrid crops that have some survival advantages.

11. 3  Biotechnology : Application of technology to biology. Biotechnology is enabling modern scientist to generate hybrid crops clones of organisms that are deemed valuable resources, treat genetic disorders and so on.

12. Web Page  http://www.textbookofbacteriology.net/normalflora.html http://www.textbookofbacteriology.net/normalflora.html