Extremophiles in My Backyard? Enhancing Analytical and Math Skills with a Simple Enquiry Based Lab
Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2014, Volume 35
Lakshmi Chilukuri & Lorlina Almazan
Abstract
What lives in compost? What survives extreme conditions like hydrothermal vents? We
harness that curiosity in a guided inquiry‐based laboratory exercise that promotes critical analysis and
reinforces math skills. In this authentic research students explore the relationship between physicochemical
characteristics and diverse microbial community of a natural environment. Using selective and
differential media, dilution, viable counts, and the scientific method they enrich thermophiles from
compost. In collaborative exercises, they collect, evaluate, and analyze numerical data, and present their
findings in scientific format. This flexible, easily adaptable model has proven to be invaluable in
contextualizing science in our classrooms
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