THE 12 MOST UNWANTED BACTERIA Time: One 45-minute class period to set up the activity One 45-minute class period for team presentations

GETTING STARTED

INTRODUCTION

Ask students: What do you usually see on a "Most Wanted" list? Hopefully, students will respond with "bad guys" or "criminals." Then hold up a copy of The 12 Most Unwanted Bacteria reproducible and ask: Does anyone know why these are "unwanted"? (They're pathogens that can be found in foods and can make us sick if we eat them.) Distribute the reproducible. Continue the discussion with:

•  Are any of these familiar to you? Which ones? What have you heard about them?
•  Are all bacteria bad? (No, most bacteria are beneficial to us in our everyday lives.)
• If I asked you to make a poster of "Wanted Bacteria," what would you put on that poster?
•  Have you ever eaten foods that contain bacteria?
• Have you ever eaten this? (Show a picture or a slice of cheese, and/or a container or picture of yogurt.) What do these foods have in common? (They all contain beneficial bacteria.) Can you think of some other foods that contain good bacteria? (Some examples: buttermilk, sauerkraut, pickles - even wine and beer.)
•  Are you surprised that these foods contain bacteria? Why?
• Where else might we find good bacteria? (Examples could include: In our small intestine there's generic E. coli, which helps us digest our food; and in antibiotics like Streptomycin, which helps treat patients with infections.) Explain to the class: In this activity we're going to focus on some harmful bacteria that can make us sick and explore why Dr. X considers these bacteria the worst, "the baddest of the bad!"

PROCEDURE

1. Divide students into 12 teams. Have a person from each team select a pathogen from the bowl.
2. Ask the students what they'd like to know about bacteria in order to become "super science sleuths." Write their answers on the board.
3. Give a food safety portfolio to each team. Challenge them to be constantly on the lookout for information about their pathogen and to record their findings in their portfolio. Remind them to include the date, URL for Web sites, title, author, year, and page numbers of books or articles.
4. Have each team divide the questions on The 12 Most Unwanted Bacteria reproducible equally among members of their team, so that everyone in the group has a task. The reproducible can be used as a checklist during their research.
5. Give each team background material on their selected pathogen from the Food Safety A to Z Reference Guide to get them started.
6. Explain that each group will work together to:
   • Conduct in-depth research about their pathogen.
   • Find out how their pathogen makes an impact on food safety along the Farm-to-Table Continuum.
   • Discover what can be done to control the growth of their pathogen.
   • Present their research to the class to teach other students about their pathogen. Give students a date for their presentations.

Planning the Final Presentation

1. Explain to the class that at the end of the food safety unit, each team will present their research to the class in a fun, creative way. The presentation should be a maximum of 5 minutes. Students can use the following suggestions or come up with their own ideas.
2. Since one of the purposes of the presentation is to share what they learned about their bacterium with the other students, each team should prepare a simple fact sheet on their bacterium for the other teams to add to their portfolios. At the end of the presentations, each team will have information on all the 12 Most Unwanted Bacteria.

Ideas for Final Presentations

Perform

• Perform a skit using your pathogen as the main character.
• Dress up as your pathogen and perform a moving monologue.
• Create a poem, song, dance, or rap about your mighty microbe.
• Produce "Jeopardy" or "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" type game shows.
• Put on a news broadcast about a real outbreak involving your pathogen.
• Put on a puppet show or create picture books to share with primary school students.

Design

• Prepare posters or 3-D models of your pathogen to hang around the classroom, using assorted materials (coat hangers, newspapers, papier mâché, balloons, cardboard, plastic bottles, poster board, fabric scraps, pipe cleaners, and beads).
• Design a food safety calendar with a theme for removing or eliminating your pathogen for each month of the year.
• Design and prepare Web pages that offer photos and facts about your pathogen.
• Develop an animated slide show, using Power Point slides and clay animation.
• Design a travel brochure with graphics and text tracing the journey of your pathogen.
• Create an animated flip book about your microbe.

Write

• Interview your pathogen like Dr. X did in the video.
• Write humorous comic strips featuring your pathogen.
• Create a recipe book filled with food safety tips for avoiding your pathogen.
• Write a moving story about a day in the life of your pathogen.

Create Video

• Create a video pertaining to your pathogen using one of the following styles - documentary, newscast, drama, advertisement, or game show.

SUMMARY

A pathogen is any microorganism that is infectious and causes disease. There are bad bacteria (pathogens), such as the 12 Most Unwanted Bacteria, that cause foodborne illness. However, not all bacteria are bad. Good bacteria, such as those found in foods like yogurt and pickles, and those in antibiotics like Streptomycin, are helpful to us.

EXTENSIONS

• Be on the lookout for reports about your pathogen in local newspapers, on TV news reports, and on the Internet. These newsworthy reports can be added to your food safety portfolios.
• Take a virtual field trip to the American Museum of Natural History's "Epidemic! The World of Infectious Disease".

See real-life scientists in action!

• Food Safety A to Z Reference Guide