In November the seventh grade Life Science Class visited the Microbiology Lab as part of their study on unicellular and multi-cellular organisms and the importance of bacteria in the world. The girls actually pressed their hands into agar in the labs and the plates were incubated. When the girls returned they were able to observe what kinds of bacteria had grown in the agar from contact with their hands. There were three forms of bacteria including Staphlylococcus and Bacillus that the girls identified by studying slides they prepared by Gram staining their bacteria. The slides were not only observed through MUSC's microscopes but also digitized and projected onto a TV for larger viewing. The focus of the unit helped the girls understand just how prevalent and necessary bacteria are in our world and how the majority of them are actually healthful.
"Before the trip I didn't know a lot about bacteria. All I knew was that they were on dirty things, were microscopic, and that they were really bad for you. I thought that if you had bacteria, then you were sick. How wrong I was. I learned that bacteria are on everyone all the time and that it doesn't mean you are sick. In fact some bacteria are good for you!" Olivia Norman