Bacteria

Can Bacteria Be Beneficial?

Have you ever had a tooth ache or strep throat? Bacteria have a bad reputation because they usually make us sick. Can they ever help us?

Prokaryotic Cell Structure

Davidson, Michael. "Bacteria Cell Structure." Molecular Expressions: Cell Biology and Microscopy--Structure and Function of Cells and Viruses. Florida State University, 2007. <http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/cells/bacteriacell.html>.

"They are as unrelated to human beings as living things can be, but bacteria are essential to human life and life on planet Earth. Although they are notorious for their role in causing human diseases, from tooth decay to the Black Plague, there are beneficial species that are essential to good health" (Davidson 2007).

TASK

This project, which you will be working on over the next few weeks, will demonstrate your knowledge of bacteria, and as such, will replace any examination over the material. With this in mind, this project is a serious undertaking, and will require extensive time and research on your part. Mrs. Rasmussen, Ms. Tucker, and Ms. Jansen are all available to you for help and guidance concerning any part of this project, and will all be evaluating your final product.

The concept of designing a wiki is new to many of you, as are the plethora of bacteria (and information) available for your study. Keep this in mind while working on your project and planning your time. To maintain your sanity, you will want to develop a timeline for your research, doing small bits over the course of the two weeks, divided up between you and your partner. If you have trouble communicating and/or working with your partner, please see your teacher.

The project is outlined below. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list; rather, it is a general overview of some things we would like to see included in your final product. If you desire to make a good grade (a 90 or better), you will need to go above and beyond what is outlined below. We are shifting to a more self-directed approach, and this project represents the first of many like it to come.

Purpose

Students will be able to design, research, organize, and implement a Wiki page.
Students will be able to evaluate the accuracy and authority of other websites on the free web.
Students will learn about a bacterium that is beneficial to humans, and describe its benefits to the public.

Content (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

Classification – Aerobic/Anaerobic; Formal scientific name (anything interesting about name?)
Gram stain – Is the bacteria gram – or gram +
Structure – shape; cell wall; internal structures; flagella present? Spore forming (endospores)?
Habitat – where would you find this bacterium?
Nutritional Requirements – Heterotrophic? Autotrophic? Chemoautotrophic?
Reproduction – Description of its asexual and sexual reproductive strategies
History – When discovered; interesting historical information dealing with your bacteria.
Beneficial properties – How is this bacteria helpful to humans, other animals, plants, fungus, protista?
Problems associated with the loss of bacteria in the environment?
Interesting or unusual facts about your bacteria.
Recent scientific and/or medical research dealing with this bacteria?

Bacteria Names (you have been assigned one)

Bifidobacterium
Lactobacillus acidophilus
Saccharomyces boulardii
Leuconostoc mesenteroides
Lactobacillus thermophilus
Bacillus lentimorbus
Arthrobacter globiformis
Oenococcus oeni
Leucnostoc mesenteroides
Bacillus thuringiensis
Thermus aquaticus
Lactobacillus bulgaricus
Rhizobia
Streptomyces griseus
Deinococcus radiodurans
Actinomycetes
Petroleum-eating bacteria

ONLINE RESOURCES

Subscription Database page
Proquest: eLibrary Science
Encyclopedia Britannica (use High School and Up edition)
Gale Student Resource Center Gold
SIRS Knowledge Source
netTrekker (for authoritative and accurate sites on the free Web that you don't need to evaluate)

Free Websites: If you use a search engine such as Google or any other, you will need to complete a Website Evaluation Guide for each site that you use. See below for more information. Ms. Jansen will instruct you in the process. If you miss this class, please see Ms. Jansen.

RESEARCH STRATEGIES

Organization: Ms. Jansen will show you and your partner how to create a wiki to organize your research and present your final results. You will need to have one page for each of you to record notes and one page for your bibliography. So, your navigation sidebar should have the following labels (links) to these pages (see this example):

Home page (contains your content--see above) Possible links include: Videos, News articles (current events), Learning tools, Photos, Games, Suggested Reading, Links, Vocabulary
Timeline
Ideas for presentation
Student 1's notes (put name here)
Student 1's journal (put name here)
Student 2's notes (put name here)
Student 2's journal (put name here)
Student 3's notes (put name here)
Student 3's journal (put name here)
Bibliography

RESEARCH STRATEGIES: ORGANIZATIONAL TOOLS AND OTHER USEFUL STUFF

We will use to make our wikis. As soon as you have made your wiki, email the URL to your teacher and Ms. Jansen.

Bibliography: You must use SourceAid Citation Builder to create your citations. Each of you will store your citations in your own account, then copy and paste to the bibliography page in the wiki. Make sure you alphabetize your final list.

Use your account for citing sources. Remember that you each have a login (email) and password. You will use the formats "Internet Database" for our subscriptions databases and "Website" for sites you find on the free Web or through netTrekker. Photos and other illustrations: if you add these to your wiki, you need to include with the photo the name of the website and the link. You do not need to include photos in the bibliography. You may also number the photos if they correspond to a citation in your bibliography.

Website Evaluation: Professionals evaluate for accuracy and authority when using sites from the free Web. You must turn in a completed evaluation for each website you used that was not included in netTrekker. Use the Website Evaluation Guide provided on our library website.

Research Journal: A daily journal of your process. Each of these entries is to be 2 paragraphs in length per person per day. Do not forget to include the dates.

IMPORTANT! Copy and paste ALL notes, journal entries, home page content, and bibliography citations into a Word document for safe keeping! You cannot use "I couldn't get to the Internet" or, "Our wiki wouldn't work" as an excuse for not turning in your work.

Virtual Office Hours: Ms. Jansen will host office hours via IM or email on Wednesday, 12/12 from 8:00-10:00 p.m; 12/13 from 8:30-10:00 p.m.; and on Sunday, 12/15 from 12:00-3:00 p.m. See the library website "Ask a Librarian" link for screen names or to use the IM on the website.

Additional considerations:

Don't neglect to look at the related links and various other links that come up for each search.
Printing: DO YOU REALLY NEED TO PRINT? If so, always use the Print option on the database or Web site page when you are printing from these databases. Don't use the print from the File menu. You get a cleaner copy that is easier to read and make notations. And, it uses less toner and paper.
See Ms. Jansen for passwords for home. Better yet, look at your notes from class because she gave you the required passwords.

FINAL RESULTS

You will devote a page or more on your wiki to presenting the final results of your research and ideas. Make sure that you include a link on the sidebar for this. How can you organize your results so that you communicate to your readers the results of your research? How can illustrations or photographs add to the content? How should you add additional links for more information for your readers?

Turn in

A link to your completed Wiki MUST be emailed to your teacher and Ms. Jansen no later that 5:00pm on Sunday, December 16 th, 2007. You may change nothing after this point without teacher consent. Your wiki will contain the links listed in the research strategies section.
During class on Monday, Dec. 17: One printed website evaluation for each site you found using a search engine other than netTrekker. Ms. Jansen knows what is available on netTrekker so you will need to have the proper evaluations for those free websites that are not.
Evaluations (see below). Due later.

Self-evaluations and Assessment

As a part of your project, your peers will evaluate your web page based on the techniques presented to you by Mrs. Jansen.
You are required to provide for your peers a survey or some other means of evaluation of your teamwork at the beginning of your presentation. They will fill these out during your presentation, and will provide feedback for you for future reference.
Fill out this personal evaluation and turn it in on Monday, Dec. 17 at the beginning of class or email it to your teacher and Ms. Jansen.
You will be graded on this rubric. Use it to make sure that your project is complete.
The grade earned by your presentation and final product will be considered a test grade. The breakdown for points is as follows:
- Quality of wiki = 80%
- Presentation = 10%
- Portfolio binder = 10%

Final Timeline

Wiki - due Sunday 5pm
Personal Evaluation - due Monday at beginning of class
Website evaluations - due Monday or Tuesday at the team presentation
Audience evaluation - due with the wiki on Sunday 5pm.

The Wiki Presentations

Period A

http://lactobacillus-acidophilus.pbwiki.com/ (Shay, Daniel, and Bonham)
http://lactobacillusbulgaricus.pbwiki.com/ (Hunter and Charlie)
http://bifidobacterium.pbwiki.com/ (Birdie and Taylor)
http://wikigreenfrost.pbwiki.com/ (Max and Ryan)
http://sacchaboul.pbwiki.com/ (Michael and Peter H.)
http://leuconostocmesenteroides.pbwiki.com/ (Erin and Susannah)
http://kylling.pbwiki.com/ (Julia and Christine)

Period B

http://bacillusthuringiensis.pbwiki.com/ (Colin and Reid)
http://oenococcusoenigm.pbwiki.com/ (Meredith and Gareth)
http://welovemstucker.pbwiki.com/ (Max P. and Jose)
http://cahoney-l-acidophilus.pbwiki.com/ (Paige and Brenna)
http://cooknkohlmesenteroides.pbwiki.com/ (Patrick and Byung-Hyuk)
http://jcsaccharmycesboulardii.pbwiki.com/ (Cole and John)

Period C

http://thermusaquaticus.pbwiki.com/ (Ari and Colin)
http://cbassandchuck.pbwiki.com/ (Bryant and Sebastian)
http://lbulgaricusistehuberbacteria.pbwiki.com/ (James and Justin)
http://conanthebacterium.pbwiki.com/ (Isaac and Colin V.)
http://bifido.pbwiki.com/ (Maryhelen and Rita)
http://bacteriarus.pbwiki.com/ (Lena and Rachel)
http://eatingoil.pbwiki.com/ (Garrit and Andrew)
http://beyondbacteria.pbwiki.com/ (Sarah and Mauri)

Period D

http://samabelle.pbwiki.com/ (Samantha and Isabelle)
http://gracemadisonag.pbwiki.com/ (Grace and Madison)
http://actinomycetes.pbwiki.com/ (Nick B. and Kathrine V.)
http://hacbacteria.pbwiki.com/ (Anna, Caroline C-B, and Hailey)
http://oenococcusoeni.pbwiki.com/ (Austin B. and Cameron)
http://petrolmunchin.pbwiki.com/ (Sam and Roberto)
http://awesomebacteria.pbwiki.com/ (Caroline and Christina)

Period F

http://blackmonsbacillus.pbwiki.com/ (Stephen and Scott)
http://biologyislife.pbwiki.com/ (Austin T. and Travis)
http://bacterianamehere.pbwiki.com/ (Austin C. and Peter)
http://americasnexttopbacteria.pbwiki.com/ (Allie and Aaron)
http://boulardii.pbwiki.com/ (Jessica and Parker)
http://mallie.pbwiki.com/ (Margaret and Hallie)
http://bifidobacteriaks.pbwiki.com/ (Sam A. and Katie N.)
http://radrhizobia.pbwiki.com/ (Katie C. and Taylor)
http://youknowwhatsup.pbwiki.com/ (Kyle K. and Garrett H.)

Period G

http://jackandshaun.pbwiki.com/ (Jack and Shaun)
http://megansbacteria.pbwiki.com/ (Megan and Nate)
http://bacterialwarfare.pbwiki.com/ (Kendall and Jordyn)
http://bacteriumdelirium.pbwiki.com/ (Kathryn and Jackie)
http://laurensbiologysite.pbwiki.com/ (Lauren)
http://austinlauren.pbwiki.com/ (Austin and Lauren R.)
http://lmesenteroidesnickandsam.pbwiki.com/ (Nick and Sam L.)