Introducing the latest kit for the classroom,

Microbe Safe Grow Kit

Grow and observe microorganisms with total safety using harmless Baker’s yeast, Saccharomyces Cervistae.

     

The fascinating world in which we live is not limited to just what we can see when we look around us.  The human eye cannot see the most numerous living things that are all around us, on us, in us, and which are found on and in virtually everything that we touch, eat or drink.  These organisms are the microbes (microorganisms) and they affect every part of each person’s life. Microbiology is the study of microbes.

Microbes may promote good health or cause illness (disease).  Fortunately, most microbes do not cause illness when we come in contact with them.  Many actually are beneficial and promote good health (salugens), in contrast to the low percentage that cause disease and are dangerous to our well-being (pathogens).  It is very important that people have a basic understanding of microbes and how to deal with them so that they can avoid excessive contact with those that may cause serious harm to them.  Unfortunately, many people have no or little knowledge of the microbial world and how to deal with it, and as a result there is a common fear of microbes (“germs”).  Just reading or hearing about microbes cannot convey and instill the understanding that results in effective practice of personal hygiene and other practices that are necessary to best live in our microbe filled world.

The most logical place and setting where the knowledge of microbes can be learned is in our schools.  However, many schools prohibit work with microbes other than just reading and talking about them.  Due to fear concerning actual deliberate working with living microbes, school boards and administrators have established rules that forbid the hands-on study of living microbes.  Certainly, teacher and school liabilities are valid factors to consider, and no well informed person would encourage the hands-on contact and study of potentially harmful (pathogenic) microbes by inexperienced teachers and their students. However, it could be argued that there is less risk of harm to students doing microbiological studies under the supervision of a well trained, experienced teacher than numerous other activities that are commonly practiced or allowed in our schools.  Serious short-term and long-time damage (e.g. concussions) to student athletes playing violent contact sports like football come to mind.   And never mind the fact that chemistry is taught where students commonly come in contact with hazardous chemicals that may poison or explode, work with open flamed burners or hot plates, and handle glassware that can shatter and injure.  Also, the fact that there are myriads of dangerous microorganisms on the keyboards of school used computers which can easily be transmitted and spread among the users of these instruments seems to be of little concern.  (Shouldn’t someone be monitoring these and seeing that they are properly disinfected regularly?  This could be a great project for a biology class that would provide a valuable service to the school.)

The study of microorganisms can provide knowledge to our students that is applicable to their daily lives and habits that can be applied throughout their entire lives.  Basic cleanliness and sanitation in the forms of personal hygiene, how to avoid being infected by unnecessary microbe contact, the spreading of disease, safety of food , water and beverages are a few things that come to mind.  What can be more practical and helpful than this?

The dilemma has been briefly described and calls for the question of how a satisfactory solution can be found.  The Microbe Safe Grow Kit developed by Micrology Laboratories is the answer.  It provides an introduction to the microbial world at any educational grade level and allows the totally inexperienced teacher and students to learn about microbes without any danger from the materials provided.  It demonstrates the possibility of the presence and growth of unseen microbes that can be in the environment, on hands, on keyboards, and doorknobs.  (Contrary to the common belief that the bathroom and toilet seats are the dirtiest and most microbe prevalent places, that is not the truth.  However, toothbrushes are often heavily contaminated with various forms of potentially harmful microbes.  Actually, in homes, the most contaminated place is generally the kitchen sink and its sponges and wash-clothes.)

If you use the Microbe Safe Grow Kit as directed, no potentially harmful microbes will be grown.  Only the completely harmless Saccharomyces  (Baker's yeast) will be grown.  This is the same yeast that bakers and anyone making bread or rolls uses and it is nutritious and edible.  There are also no known harmful ingredients in the Easygel^® medium that is provided in the kit to grow the yeast.  If you drank it or ate it, it would serve as a nutritious food for you just as it does for the yeast.

What you receive in the kit:

Full Instructions

1. 10 bottles of Easygel^® liquid medium
2. 10 pretreated petri dishes (must be used with the liquid medium)
3. 1 tube containing dehydrated living yeast granules
4. 2 bottles containing 10 mL of diluent
5. 1 sterile 1 mL dropper (calibrated in 0.25 mL units)

Price:  $29.95 delivered in the continental U.S. (triple size for 30 students -3 times the materials-- $59.95 delivered in the continental U.S. )

Shipping and handling charges are generally added to the advertised prices of kits by other manufacturers or distributors and add substantially to the actual cost of kits.  Compare our delivered price to the delivered price of comparable kits from other sellers and be pleasantly surprised.