Bacteria and Viruses

Lab Brief #8

🎯 Your mission

Learn the rule. Then catch nature using it.

⚡ The twist

What the body does in one minute is wilder than any cartoon.

What you'll learn

Bacteria are tiny single-celled organisms that live almost everywhere, and while some cause disease, many are helpful, like those that break down food in our intestines. Viruses are even smaller and can only reproduce by invading the living cells of another organism.

Key words

cell
The tiny building block that makes up all living things.

Make a hypothesis first

Guess: how does the body solve this problem?

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Look at the vocabulary words and write a definition for each in your own words.

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Create a detailed food web for a local ecosystem. Include at least 8 organisms and use arrows to show energy flow from producers to top predators.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Note any unexpected results and think about why they happened.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Share your findings with the class or a partner and discuss what you learned.

Question 1 of 3

What organism produces food at the base of most food chains?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 3

Which organism is a producer in a food chain?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 3 of 3

What is a food web?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🦠 You have more bacterial cells in your body than human cells.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 3 right.

Next: How the Immune System Works All lessons

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.

✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: This is why plants grow toward windows and why scabs form.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Watch a plant or pet for 5 minutes today and write down what you noticed.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “Tell me something you noticed about your own body today.”

🌿Share card

Share this experiment

Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.

Bacteria and Viruses

Next Smart Experiment

Share this experiment

Bacteria and Viruses

Done with science? Try something else

Your Cart (0)