Science Homework Help

In this assignment, you will be playing an immersive online learning simulation. Below you can read the main learning outcomes and techniques you’ll practice, as well as a brief introduction and storyline to the simulation. Once you are ready, you can start the simulation by pressing the simulation launch button/link.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this simulation you will be able to…

• Describe the general bacterial cell structure and function, including differentiating between the most common shapes of bacteria and cell arrangements.
• Describe the general bacterial cytoplasmic content and compare it to eukaryotic cytoplasmic content.
• Describe special features of bacteria such as plasmids, flagella or inclusion bodies and how they are necessary for bacteria to survive.

Techniques:

• Microscopy
• Brightfield and darkfield microscopy

About this Learning Simulation:

Global warming is causing the ice to melt in Antarctica, leading to the discovery of bacteria that have survived this extreme environment. In this simulation, you will learn about bacterial cell structures and how these are important for bacterial survival.

Identify bacteria in a sample from Antarctica

First you will collect a sample of melted ice from Antarctica that contains various bacteria. Your task is to investigate what is in the sample, and which bacterial cell structures are important for bacterial survival.

Study and assemble bacterial cell structures

In order to analyze your bacterial sample and to understand the bacterial cell’s internal and external structures, you will explore the motility features and shapes of bacteria in your sample. You will also compare the outer and inner bacterial cell structures to that of the Eukaryotic cell and assemble the cytoplasmic content of the bacterial and the Eukaryotic cell.

Apply your knowledge

Finally, you will compare your bacterial cell structures to other bacteria and learn which cellular structures are important for the bacteria to survive in extreme environments. Can you help the Arctic researchers decide which survival features they should study?