Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you?

I hope you're feeling really good today.

My name is Ms. Avsal, and I'll be your teacher for this lesson.

I'm really pleased about that because we've got a very interesting topic today.

We'll be looking at microorganisms.

Have you heard of microorganisms before?

I wonder.

Don't worry if you have or not, we're gonna be getting right into it today and finding out all about them.

Our lesson is called Microorganisms That Help Us, and it comes from the unit of work, Why We Group and Classify Things.

So if you are ready to get into this topic, if you have some focus, energy and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson now.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can explain how microorganisms can be used to improve our health.

I hope this sounds of interest to you.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

Let's go through them one at a time saying them out loud.

My turn, your turn.

Antibiotics, bacteria.

Alexander Fleming, penicillin, mold.

Good to hear these keywords.

Pause here and share with someone.

Have you heard of any of these keywords before or do you have an idea of what they mean?

Thanks for sharing.

Let's find out what these keywords mean.

Antibiotics are a type of medicine that can kill bacteria.

Bacteria are a type of microorganism that can be found in all natural environments.

Dr. Alexander Fleming was a Scottish scientist who discovered the first antibiotic, penicillin.

Penicillin is a type of antibiotic made from a fungus.

Mold is a type of fungi which grows and forms a fuzzy coating on organic matter.

These are our keywords, antibiotics, bacteria, Alexander Fleming, penicillin, and mold.

Let's look out for them and listen out for them, they'll be coming up in our lesson today.

Today's lesson is called Microorganisms That Help Us and it has two learning cycles, antibiotics and penicillin.

Let's begin by exploring antibiotics.

Have you ever had a chest infection?

Pause it and share with someone if you have.

And how did it feel?

Thanks for sharing.

It's not fun.

What about this?

Have you ever had an ear infection?

Pause here and share with someone if you have.

And how did that feel?

Thanks for sharing.

It could be quite painful.

If so, you might have been given antibiotics by your doctor to help you recover.

And there we can see some antibiotic medicines.

Antibiotics are a type of medicine that can kill harmful bacteria living inside your body.

There are over 100 different types of antibiotics that can be used to treat different types of illnesses.

They come in lots of different forms, including tablets, as we can see on the screen, liquid medicine, sprays, creams and injections.

Pause here and share with someone, do you know if you've ever had antibiotics before?

Thanks for sharing.

Antibiotics only work on illnesses caused by bacteria.

They cannot do anything to treat illnesses caused by viruses like influenza, the flu, or chickenpox.

And there we can see some bacteria under a microscope.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What type of microorganisms can medicines called antibiotic kill?

Choose from the following, A, bacteria, B, viruses, C, fungi.

Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you selected answer a bacteria.

Indeed, these are the types of microorganisms that medicines called antibiotics kill.

There are billions of bacteria living inside our bodies, many of which are helpful.

For example, there are bacteria in our digestive system that help us to digest our food and it kill off some types of harmful bacteria that get into our bodies.

Antibiotics have been carefully developed by scientists to kill the harmful bacteria in our bodies.

And there we can see a scientist developing antibiotics.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which of these statements about antibiotics is correct?

Choose from the following.

A, antibiotics kill all of the microorganisms in our body.

B, antibiotics kill all of the bacteria in our body.

C, antibiotics kill the harmful bacteria in our body.

D, antibiotics kill some of the harmful viruses in our body.

Pause here while you decide which of these statements about antibiotics is correct.

Well done if you selected statement C.

Indeed, antibiotics kill the harmful bacteria in our body.

Without antibiotics, many common illnesses and infections would have a much bigger impact on humans.

Ear infections could cause you to become deaf without antibiotics.

Some skin and chest infections could cause death if they were left untreated.

Scientists estimate that the use of antibiotics has led to life expectancy increasing by around 20 years on average.

And then we can see a child struggling with an ear infection, not fun.

Over time, some types of bacteria are adapting and becoming resistant to antibiotics.

This means antibiotics are becoming less effective at treating some types of infections.

In future, we may not be able to use some antibiotics at all because they no longer kill off the harmful bacteria they are supposed to.

We can all take steps to help prevent bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics.

Only take antibiotics if they have been prescribed to you by a doctor or pharmacist.

Take the full course of antibiotics you've been prescribed even if you start to feel better quickly.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What should we do if we are prescribed antibiotics by a doctor?

Choose from the following: A, take them for a week.

B, take them until we start to feel better.

C, take them until we feel completely better.

D, take them until they have all been taken.

Pause here while you decide what should we do if we are prescribed antibiotics by a doctor?

Well done if you selected answer D, if you have prescribed antibiotics by a doctor, take them until they have all been taken.

And now it's time for your first task, Sofia has done some writing about antibiotics.

Can you find and correct the mistakes in her work?

Let's read through.

"Antibiotics are an incredibly useful type of medicine.

They can be used to treat illnesses caused by viruses and bacteria.

They work by killing all of the bacteria in your body.

You should only take antibiotics if they have been prescribed for you.

Once you start feeling better, you can stop taking any leftover antibiotics and throw them away.

" So pause here while you think carefully about the statements in Sofia's writing and then correct the mistakes that she has made.

I'll see you when you're finished.

It is good to be back with you.

So how did you get on with that task of finding and correcting the mistakes in Sofia's work?

Let's have a read through.

So here's the first sentence.

"Antibiotics are an incredibly useful type of medicine.

" This is correct.

Next sentence.

"They can be used to treat illnesses caused by viruses and bacteria.

" Well actually, they can be used to treat illnesses caused by bacteria, not viruses.

Hopefully you've noticed that mistake.

Next one.

"They work by killing all of the bacteria in your body.

" Not true, they work by killing the harmful bacteria in your body.

Next sentence.

"You should only take antibiotics if they have been prescribed for you.

" This is correct.

And finally, "Once you start feeling better, you can stop taking any leftover antibiotics and throw them away.

" This is not true.

Even if you start to feel better, you must take the full course of antibiotics that you have been prescribed.

Well done if you made the corrections in this way.

Well done for having a go at this task.

And now we're onto our next learning cycle, exploring penicillin.

Laura and Lucas are talking about how microorganisms can help us.

Here's Laura, "When I had an infection caused by bacteria, called strep throat, the doctor gave me a medicine called penicillin.

Is this the same as antibiotics?

And Lucas, "I think antibiotics and penicillin are different types of medicines that help us when we have different types of illness.

" What do you think?

Pause here and share with someone, what do you think about Laura and Lucas's opinions and questions?

Thanks for sharing.

Penicillin is a type of antibiotic that is very useful for treating certain types of infection, including infections of the nose, throat, or lungs, skin infections and meningitis.

And there we can see a whole bunch of penicillin tablets.

It is made from a type of mold, a microorganism, which is part of the fungi group.

This incredible drug was discovered by accident by a Scottish doctor working in London in the 1920s.

And we'll be finding out more about this incredible discovery.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What type of drug is penicillin?

Choose from the following options.

A, antiviral, B, antibiotic, C, anti-inflammatory, or D, antihistamine.

Pause here while you choose which type of drug is penicillin?

Well done if you selected answer B, penicillin is an antibiotic.

Let's find out more about this amazing discovery.

In 1928, Dr. Alexander Fleming had been carrying out investigations in his lab at St.

Mary's Hospital in London.

He was growing and observing different types of bacteria in Petri dishes.

This is a Petri dish.

He went away on a two week holiday in Scotland, leaving his used Petri dishes in the sink.

Guess what happened when he returned?

When he returned from his holiday, he saw fuzzy, green mold, which is a type of fungus growing in the Petri dishes.

He observed that there was a space in a dish between the bacteria and the mold as if the mold were repelling the bacteria.

He concluded that this mold called penicillium was preventing the bacteria in the dish from growing.

And there we can see an image of some penicillium mold.

Dr. Fleming carried out further inquiries and found that the mold was producing a substance that could kill bacteria.

He named that substance penicillin.

This was the beginning of the creation of the very first antibiotic medicine.

And there we see a photograph of Dr. Alexander Fleming.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which scientist was the first to discover penicillin?

Choose from the following options: A, Dr. Marie Curie.

B, Sir Isaac Newton, C, Mary Seacole, D, Dr. Alexander Fleming.

Pause here while you decide which scientist was the first to discover penicillin.

Well done if you went for option D.

Indeed, it was Dr. Alexander Fleming who was the scientist to first discover penicillin.

Let's have another check for understanding.

In what year did Dr. Alexander Fleming first discover penicillin?

Choose from the following options: A, 1829, B, 1892, C, 1928, D, 1982.

Pause here while you decide in which year Dr. Alexander Fleming first discovered penicillin.

Well done if you went for answer C.

Indeed, it was in 1928 that Dr. Alexander Fleming first discovered penicillin.

Ancient Egyptians had also discovered the bacteria killing properties of some types of mold, even though they didn't have the understanding of microorganisms that we do now.

They used to apply moldy bread to cuts to help them heal.

But there was a long way to go from here to make the penicillin safe for humans and other animals to use.

We should not try this now we have a better understanding of how to treat infected cuts properly.

After Dr. Fleming's discovery, it was many years before scientists able to extract the helpful penicillin from the harmful or penicillium mold.

Two doctors called Howard Florey and Ernst Chain also started working on penicillin with a team of scientists in 1937.

It took a long time to discover the best way to safely produce penicillin using the mold on a large scale.

In 1942, a woman in America who had developed blood poisoning was the first person whose life was saved by penicillin.

The discovery of penicillin was one of the greatest scientific achievements of the 1900s.

It has led to the saving of many more lives.

Reflecting on his discovery, Dr. Fleming said, "When I woke up just after dawn on September the 28th, 1928, I certainly didn't plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world's first antibiotic or bacteria killer.

But I guess that's exactly what I did.

" What an amazing thing to wake up to.

Since then, doctors and other scientists have developed many more antibiotics, each useful for treating different types of illness caused by bacteria.

Let's have a check for understanding which of these statements about penicillin are correct.

Choose from the following options: A, penicillin comes from a type of fungus.

B, penicillin can be used to treat viral colds.

C, penicillin is a type of antibiotic.

D, penicillin was first used to treat a human in 1928.

Pause here while you decide which of these statements about penicillin are correct.

Well done if you selected statements A and C.

Indeed, penicillin comes from a type of fungus and penicillin is a type of antibiotic.

Both of these statements about penicillin are correct.

Well done if you selected these.

And now it's time for your next task.

Imagine you are Dr. Fleming and have traveled through time to the present day.

A team of vloggers wants to interview you about how you discovered penicillin and your feelings about how it changed the world.

Start with his famous quote, then continue with what you think he would say.

Here's that quote again from Dr. Alexander Fleming.

"When I woke up just after dawn on September the 28th, 1928, I certainly didn't plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world's first antibiotic, or bacteria killer.

But I guess that's exactly what I did.

" Make sure you include how you made the discovery, what you noticed about the mold, and you felt when the first human life was saved by penicillin.

And here's Lucas very helpfully sharing with us his work.

"Here's the start to my work.

Maybe it will give you some ideas.

" "When I woke up just after dawn on September the 28th, 1928, I certainly didn't plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world's first antibiotic, or bacteria killer.

But I guess that's exactly what I did.

I cannot believe how much the world changed as a result of a completely accidental discovery.

I had been on holiday in Scotland.

.

.

So pause here, you carry on about writing your account about how you, Dr. Alexander Fleming, discovered penicillin and also your feelings about how it was for the first human life to be saved.

Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.

It is great to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task?

Imagining you are Dr. Fleming and you've traveled through time to the present day and are being interviewed by a team of vloggers about your discovery.

What did you have to say?

Let's have a read of this.

"I had been on holiday in Scotland enjoying a break from all my hard work on the flu virus when I came down to find my lab in a mess.

I had forgotten to clean up my Petri dishes from the investigations I'd been doing a fortnight ago, and they had gone all moldy.

With a sigh, I rolled up my sleeves and went to start cleaning up the mess, when I noticed that there was no bacteria around a fuzzy blue mold on the dishes.

With great excitement, I used my microscope to take a closer look at this phenomenon and came to the conclusion that something in the mold must be killing the bacteria or preventing it from growing.

I spent a long time trying to find a way to extract this helpful substance from the harmful mold, but it was ultimately too challenging and I moved on to other investigations after a few years.

I was incredibly excited and proud to see that other scientists have picked up where I left off and managed to successfully start saving lives with penicillin in 1942.

" How wonderful to get to hear from Dr. Alexander Fleming.

Well done for writing that account of his discovery and his feelings about saving lives.

In our lesson, Microorganisms That Help Us, we've covered the following: Antibiotics are medicines that fight infections caused by microorganisms called bacteria.

The first antibiotic penicillin was discovered by Dr. Alexander Fleming in 1928.

This was one of the greatest scientific achievements of the 1900s.

Penicillin comes from a type of mold.

There were many years between the first discovery of penicillin, its extraction from the mold, and its successful use to cure a patient.

Well done everyone for joining in with this lesson.

It was so interesting to explore microorganisms together.

What are antibiotics?

What was the first antibiotic?

Penicillin.

And find out about this great discovery made by Dr. Alexander Fleming.

I really enjoyed teaching you, and I hope you've enjoyed this lesson and making these discoveries, and I'm looking forward to seeing you at another lesson soon.

Until then, stay curious.