Biophysics: controlling microbial communities

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Suitable for 14-19-year olds (secondary and high schools, and college), this article and accompanying activity sheet can be used in the classroom, STEM clubs and at home.

This resource links to KS4 and KS5 biology, physics and chemistry.
It can also be used as a careers resource and links to Gatsby Benchmarks:
Gatsby Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information
Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

• This teaching resource explains the work of Professor James Boedicker, a biophysicist from the University of Southern California in the USA. James investigates the interactions between bacteria. He hopes that scientists will be able to control the activity that occurs in microbial communities, ensuring that microbes will be helpful to society.
• This resource also contains an interview with Professor James Boedicker. If you or your students have a question for him, you can submit it online – go to the article using the Futurum link below and scroll to the bottom of the page. James will reply!
• The activity sheet provides ‘talking points’ (based on Bloom’s Taxonomy) to prompt students to reflect on Professor James Boedicker’s research and challenges them to consider the importance of biophysics.

This resource was first published on Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine (STEM) and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE).

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