DISSEMINATION WITH SUPERMPOWERS: MICROBIOLOGY COMES CLOSER WITH

PARTICIPATORY ACTIVITIESJorge Bravo, Sandra Bosch, Mercedes Sánchez, Ana Peropadre, Ana Luisa Ribeiro, Nieves García-Quintans,

Davide Cecchini, Aurelio Hidalgo.

Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.28049 Madrid. España. ahidalgo@cbm.csic.es

“Proteins and Microbes with Super Powers” is an activity that aims for thedissemination of Microbiology and to bring over its interesting applications to thepublic. The dynamic of the activity starts with a “ball pool” that mimics thenatural environment and the abundant amount of microorganisms that inhabitthere, represented by the balls. Inside the pool, there are some special balls withdifferent shape and colors when compared to others (green, pink and blue). Thesecolor code connects each special ball with a different “station” where each area ofapplied microbiology (bioremediation, health, food) is explained. Once theparticipants find these balls, they go to the corresponding station and take part inscientific games, demonstrations and simple experiments to learn about theimportance of microorganisms in our daily lives.

FOOD

A shopping basket with groceries toys shows the many foods in whose production processes, the microorganisms take part. Using the bread as an example, participants prepare their own doughs and observe the effects of fermentation carried out by yeasts.

BIORREMEDIATION

A beautiful seabed image over a plastic tray is covered withblack magnetic sand to illustrate the effects of pollution inthe oceans. In order to show how microorganisms can helpus to clean and preserve the environment, participantsremove the black sand with bacteria-shaped magnets.

HEALTH

The participants learn how ubiquitousmicroorganisms are in the different parts ofthe human body. In this station, a body-shaped magnetic board with bacterialmagnets are employed to quiz theparticipants about our closest neighbors:microorganisms. They will also find cultureplates inoculated not only with everydayitems (mobile phones, house keys,toothbrush…), but also with hands, feet andhair.

+ than 200 people participated

Average time spent in the activity was 15 minutes

50 people answered the survey after the activity to test what they have learned

Participants’ age ranged from 3 to 14 years old.

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Age distribution of participants

The Activity in data:

Example of survey answered by a nine years old participant

Acknowledgements