Reviewing bacterial defenses
These questions focus on student understanding of gram-negative bacteria and the bacteria's response to antibiotics.
Educator Guide: New Rules for Finding Antibiotics
MAKE WAY An antimicrobial (mostly green and white in this illustration) that has been modified to target gram-negative bacteria travels through a channel (brown) on its way inside an E. coli cell.
M.F. RICHTER ET AL/NATURE 2017
About this guide
The article “New ‘rules’ for finding antibiotics” proposes a new strategy for designing antibiotics for gram-negative bacteria. Students can focus on details reported in the article, follow connections to earlier articles about drug-resistant bacteria and antibiotics, and explore cross-curricular connections to other major science topics. In a related activity, students can test how susceptible yogurt bacteria are to antibiotics and determine whether the bacteria are gram-positive or gram-negative.
This Guide Includes:
A look back at antibiotics
Students will search the Science News archive for stories related to antibiotics and bacterial infections.
Our ongoing battle with bacteria
These discussion prompts focus on the nature of bacteria and types of antibiotics, as well as methods for dealing with antibiotic resistance.
How is yogurt made?
Students will culture yogurt bacteria with and without antibiotics to test the bacteria's sensitivity and then stain microscope slides to determine if the bacteria are gram-positive or gram-negative.