Bacterial infection and disease were once a leading cause of death. This threat had been
defeated, we thought, by antibiotics. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria threaten to turn back the
clock in terms of our ability to treat certain diseases. Antibiotics have been and continue to
be at the center of science and human health issues, so it's a fitting topic for study in a high
school science class. But how should the subject be taught, and how will you, as a teacher, use
this module?
The module is not intended as a curriculum. The module was written with the idea that a teacher
would select activities or readings that could be “dropped into” your existing chemistry or
biology curriculum, either as an attractive substitute for an old activity or as a supplement to
existing activities. For example, if your class is studying how bacteria reproduce, you might
include the lab activity Spallanzani and Pasteur: Re-creating
Their Experiments, and refer the students to the reading Germs from Nowhere: Spontaneous Generation for background
information.
The module's topic is, of course, antibiotics and bacteria. In it you will find activities
that support a broad range of knowledge and content skills:
Inquiry skills
Math skills
Graphing skills
General understanding of how science evolves
Lab skills
General health and wellness
We expect that chemistry teachers and biology teachers will find appropriate
activities here. Each activity has been aligned with the National Science
Standards and the New Jersey State Standards. This will be useful if you are
looking for activities to support one or more of those standards.
Despite the fact that many of the activities are related, most can "stand alone." You can pick
and choose those that are appropriate in your class or you can select a section that fits in
your class and do all of it. You might use the section X-Ray Vision: Crystallography
when teaching molecular structure. The section Cell Membranes
might be used as an extension of a unit on cell biology. There are many possible ways you can use the module.
That said, we hope you find this module useful and that your students find it informative
and enlightening.
