Biofilms

This short video and accompanying booklet introduce pupils to biofilms formed by bacteria. 

The video starts by introducing an everyday example of a biofilm on our teeth and then links this to bioflims in rivers. It explains how important these biofilms are in the context of food chains and makes for an interesting example of a food web.  It then goes on to explain the problems of too much sewage and fertiliser ending up in rivers and how it causes eutrophication which makes the river unhealthy. It highlights how bioflims can be used to solve these problems, but then discusses the issues of the over use of anti-biotics which kill the bacteria in the biofilms. 

The booklet supports the video with pictures and a glossary of definitions of the key scientific vocabulary.  In addition, it covers the work of a microbiologist and how they would measure the health of a river by looking at the bacteria in the biofilms they collect. It also includes some practical based activities like making slime and paper based tasks such as a wordsearch.

The resource contains some complicated scientific ideas, but it breaks them down so they are more accessible for pupils aged 7 to 11.

Although this resource has been designed for pupils aged 7 to 11 its contents would be appropriate for older students looking at the issues of the over use of antibiotics and, interdependence and ecosystems.