Bacteria teaching resources

Worksheets and lesson ideas to challenge students aged 11 to 16 to think hard about bacteria (GCSE and Key Stage 3)

You are composed of more bacterial cells than human cells. Your energy-producing organelles were once free-living bacteria. There are more bacteria in one gram of soil than people on earth. Yet we can grow less than 1% of bacterial species in the lab. Bacteria are amazing! The resources below will help your students appreciate this incredible group of small but very significant microbes.  

Why are bacteria so successful?

GCSE and A Level worksheet on Bacteria. This provides students with information about bacteria. They answer some challenging questions to consider why this group of organisms has been so incredibly successful. (PDF)

Bacterial cell division

GCSE worksheet and activity for students to understand why bacterial growth is so dangerous. Students calculate how many bacteria are produced from one bacterium after 24 hours. They calculate the new mass of the patient and bacteria and consider why in reality this does not happen. This is a useful resource to help teach standard form and introduce the concept of limiting factors. (PDF)

  1. Bacteria
  2. Drug discovery
  3. Fungi
  4. Microorganisms and scale
  5. Infection and response
  6. Vaccines

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