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In this activity, learners make balloon models of disease-causing bacteria. This activity provides a fun and hands-on way of learning about the shape and structure of bacteria and also introduces the concept of bacteria as disease-causing organisms. This activity is supported by an educator's presentation and presentation notes. Safety note: before running the activity, check whether any of the learners have latex allergies. If there are any learners with latex allergies provide alternative craft materials such as cotton wool balls, large polystyrene balls or toilet rolls and craft paper.
- 10 to 30 minutes
- 10 to 30 minutes
- $5 - $10 per group of students
- Ages 6 - 18
- Activity, Lesson/Lesson Plan, Model
- English
Quick Guide
Materials List (per group of students)
- Balloon bugs presentation
- Balloon bugs instruction cards
- Balloons of different shapes and sizes, in particular: round, sausage and squiggly shapes
- Balloon pump(s)
- Lengths of wool (to represent flagella)
- Double-sided sticky tape
- Marker pens or felt tip pens
- Tags for labeling the bacteria
- String
- Rubber bands
- Scissors (to cut around the tags)
- Hole punch
Subjects
-
Life Sciences
-
Diversity of Life
- Viruses and Bacteria
- Classification
-
Ecology
- Biodiversity
-
Human Body
- Health and Nutrition
-
Diversity of Life
Informal Categories
- Arts and Crafts
- Model Building
Audience
To use this activity, learners need to:
- see
- read
- touch
Learning styles supported:
- Involves hands-on or lab activities
Other
Components that are part of this resource:
Access Rights:
- Free access
By:
- Gale, Francesca ; Hale, Christine ; Bennett, Alex ; Deshpande, Preeti
Rights:
- Creative Commons: Attribution (by), Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute,