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Microbes: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
A Gallery Demonstration
Concepts
There are good microbes and bad microbes in our bodies.
Microbes are usually single-celled organisms that include bacteria and viruses.
Broad spectrum antibiotics harm good bacteria and bad bacteria in the body.
Antibiotics cannot destroy viral infections but doctors often prescribe antibiotics
anyway.
The widespread use of antibiotics has resulted in the emergence of resistant
bacteria that cannot be destroyed by common antibiotics.
Objectives
Participants assume the identities of good and bad bacteria of the body as well
as the bacteriophage (called “phage” here forth) hero that helps to destroy the
bad bacteria.
The audience compares the bacteriophage leg molecules to the bacterial surface
receptors to simulate the molecular recognition that promotes specific killing of
bad bacteria by bacteriophage.
The Facilitator narrates the process in order to guide the participants and explain
the terminology and mechanism.
Target
Audience
Materials &
Props
posters)
Anyone can watch but participants should be 8 years old or older.
PowerPoint slides or posters of good guys (deputies) and bad guys (wanted
PowerPoint containing iRespond questions
30 iRespond hand-held units
Deputy: Lactobacillus acidophilus costume and hat with corresponding receptor
shape, yogurt container
Deputy: Escherichia coli costume and hat with corresponding receptor shape,
letter K
Sheriff: Bacteriophage costume
Bandit #1: Group A Streptococcus (Strep throat) costume and hat with
corresponding receptor shape, plush toy
Bandit #2: methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) costume and hat
with corresponding receptor shape, plush toy
Hat bands can be transferred between hats after the proper sizes have been
matched to the participants.
Velcro bean bags or balls (broad spectrum antibiotics)
Setting
Stage or open area
Time Frame
15-20 minutes
Preparation
Have stools and costumes set out on the stage for the volunteer helpers.
As people show up for the demonstration, hand them two Velcro balls if they are
sitting in the front row.
Pass out the iRespond remotes to the audience.
Write the following words on the white board: microbes, virus, bacteria, phage,
intestines, receptors, antibiotics, resistance, (you can even break words up like
anti = against and biotics = life)
Dear Presenter
Wherever possible, incorporate “cowboy” words like molecule-slinging, deputy/ies, sheriff, get
out of town, showdown, face-off, buckaroo, rustler, wrangler, outlaw, six-shooter, spurs,
saddle; whatever seems to naturally work into the story line, giving it a cowboy twist but not
confusing the scientific meaning. Also, since the title of the demo is “Bacterial Badges” you can
equate the concept of receptors to badges.
Section 1: Introducing the Workshop
Step 1: Introductions
[Welcome everybody to the Microbes: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly demonstration.]
Who’s got the best cowboy or cowgirl voice out there?
Can you say: “Protect our town!” [Give one volunteer the yogurt container. Tell this
volunteer that s/he will be Deputy Lacto in the play.
Give another volunteer the letter K. S/he will be
Deputy E. Coli in the play.]
Can you say: “We’re taking over!”
[Give this volunteer the plush strep toy. Tell this
volunteer that s/he will be the Strep bandit in the
play.]
Who can say: “I’m bullet-proof!”
[Give this volunteer the plush MRSA toy. Tell this
volunteer that s/he will be the MRSA bandit in the
play.]
I need a: “There ain’t room in this town for the two of us!” You will be our sheriff when
the time comes.
When I give you a cue, you will each come up here and put on your costume. When I point at
you during the play, I’d like each of you to say your line.
Now, you’ve heard about bacteria and viruses that make us sick, right? They are microbes, or
tiny life forms that are too small to see without a microscope.
Today, we are going to show you some cutting edge research that uses…*gasp*….viruses to
help kill off bacteria that make you sick! Sounds pretty crazy right? However, this is a potential
therapy that could specifically target the bad bacteria that make you sick.
You can think about your body as a town in the wild Wild West. Most of the folks that live in
this town are good, law-abiding people. Occasionally, some really unsavory characters come to
town and the sheriff and deputies have to chase them off. Sometimes, a showdown is the only
way for justice to be served.
You may or may not know this, but not all bacteria make you sick
Step 2: Set the context
There are plenty of good bacteria out there in our environment and that are residents in our
body. In fact, you need them to help prevent you from getting sick from other bad bacteria or
viruses that cause diseases. Why? Well, in a special part of your tummy called your intestines,
it’s all about real estate. If it is filled up with good bacteria, there’s no place for the bad
bacteria to live and make you sick. They do all sorts of other great things as well like….well,
maybe we should let them speak for themselves.
Step 3: Introduce the Good Bacteria (Deputies)
I think it’s about time to meet a couple of these heroes, don’t you? Let’s introduce our first
bacterial deputy…
[Click the PowerPoint slide to play the Bonanza
Theme song. Show cartoon/actual pictures of
these bacteria on the monitor. Let the music play
for a few seconds, for effect, and then turn it off.]
…who has the yogurt container? Howdy! Come on up here and put on this vest and hat.
Folks, this is Deputy Lacto and s/he’s one of the good bacteria that live in your intestines.
S/he’s also found in yogurt that contains live active cultures. S/he helps you digest your
food and prevents nasty bacteria, which make you sick, from attaching to the surface
inside your intestines.
[Once the volunteer has donned the costume,
point at him/her to prompt the line “protect the
town!” Prompt cheers from the audience.]
Let’s meet our next deputy…who has the big letter K? Yee-haw! Come on up here and
put on this vest and hat. Folks, this is Deputy E. Coli and s/he’s the most common
bacteria in your gut. S/he sticks to the mucus of your large intestine and prevents bad
bacteria from growing. S/he also helps you to make some of the vitamins that your body
needs, like vitamin K.
[Once the volunteer has donned the costume,
point at him/her to prompt the line “protect the
town!” Prompt cheers from the audience.]
Let’s hear it for the bacterial deputies! Let’s get a high-five from the deputies…
[Prompt deputies to high five you and each other.]
These are the deputies that will help keep our Body-Town safe from outlaws like these next
characters.
Step 4: Introduce the Bacterial Bandits
[Click the PowerPoint slide to play the The Good,
The Bad and The Ugly song. Show cartoon/actual
pictures of these bacteria on the monitor. Let the
music play for a few seconds, for effect, and then
turn it off.]
Who’s got the red plush toy? C’mon up here pardner… and put on this vest and hat. This
here is one of the bad bacterial bandits, Sneaky Strep! How many of y’all have ever
caught strep throat? Well, s/he probably did that to you.
[Once the volunteer has donned the costume,
point at him/her to prompt the line “We’re taking
over!” Prompt boos from the audience.]
Real quick survey, using your hand-held clickers, do you think that antibiotics kill both bacteria
and viruses? Buzz in with your remotes.
a. True
b. False
c. I’m not sure
The answer is B – FALSE. Antibiotics only work against bacteria, like Sneaky Strep here, not
viruses, say from a cold or flu. So, you really shouldn’t take antibiotics for a common cold or
the flu. You just need rest and lots of fluids to get better when you have a viral infection.
Your doctor probably gave you antibiotics to get rid of Sneaky Strep, though. S/he hates
antibiotics because, usually, antibiotics destroy bacteria like him/her and his/her little friend
here [plush toy].
[Point at him/her to prompt the line “We’re taking
over!” Prompt boos from the audience.]
All righty, folks, it’s time for a showdown but instead of Deputies E. coli and Lacto vs. Strep here,
let’s see what happens when you take an antibiotic. Take a look at our three bacteria here.
When the lights are turned on in the vests, it means that they are alive and kicking. When
turned off, they have died.
Usually, our body can fight off bad bacteria. Sometimes, they get out of control and there are
just to many and we have to bring out the big guns…antibiotics.
Can I get our volunteers with Velcro balls to help administer some antibiotics by placing them
on the bacterial vests, like this?
[If we want the kids to throw the balls, we could
say: Walk three paces and then turn and shoot!]
[The volunteers put the antibiotic balls on the
volunteers’ vests on stage. Encourage them to
stick the balls to the material, and not the shapes,
on the vests. The balls stick to all three bacteria,
good and bad. The presenter turns off the lights on
each costume.]
Whoa there! We killed the bad bacteria, Strep, but it looks like also killed off the good ones
from our intestines as well.
[Cue bacteria volunteers to keel over and die.]
Oh no! This is why doctors recommend that you eat yogurt while you take your antibiotics to
replace all the good bacteria that the antibiotics are killing off. Overuse of antibiotics can
create bad bacteria that are antibiotic resistant. Let’s see how this works. We are going to bid
farewell to Bandit Strep now. Let’s give him/her a round of applause.
[The audience applauds as the volunteer takes a
seat. While the audience is applauding, collect the
Velcro balls from the other two costumes and put
them back in the bucket. Turn the costume lights
back on with the deputies].
I’d like to introduce our next bacterial bandit here with us today. Who’s got the
brown plush toy with the cape? C’mon up here pardner and put on this vest and
hat. This is MRSA the Resistant! MRSA is an acronym that stands for methicillin
resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Antibiotics don’t work on him/her. If you were
infected by MRSA the Resistant and you took antibiotics to get rid of him/her,
you would wind up killing off these deputies here [point to the good bacteria]
leaving him/her in charge to do whatever s/he wanted!
[Point at him/her to prompt the line “I’m bulletproof!” Prompt boos from the audience.]
[Presenter throws antibiotics at MRSA, aiming
carefully for the vest]. What? MRSA is absolutely
correct! These antibiotics don’t do anything
against him/her!
Fortunately, MRSA is very rare but it’s very serious. So, scientists are interested in finding new
treatments to get rid of this bad bacterium without harming your own good bacteria and it
looks like they have figured out a potential tool to help: viruses!
Step 5: Introduce Sheriff Phage
Now, I need my sheriff. C’mon up here and put on your costume.
[The bacteriophage volunteer is invited to center
stage to don his/her costume.]
This is a phage virus. It is a special type of virus that only infects bacteria. Phage viruses are
found in nature. Scientists have been working to make them infect just the bad bacteria that
make you sick. S/he’ll run those bandits out of town!
[Point at him/her to prompt the line “There ain’t
room in this town for the two of us!” Prompt
cheers from the audience.]
Here’s how it works. See the phage virus’s legs? In order to attack a bacterium, it has to match
up to the same shape receptor, on a bacterial cell. Receptors are proteins found on all cells and
many of them are unique to certain types of bacteria. Bioengineers can actually change the
DNA code inside the phage virus to make it display the shape that matches receptors on only
one kind of bacterial cell. Let’s take a look at the shapes of the receptors here on our bacteria.
Deputy E. coli’s are triangles, Deputy Lacto’s are rectangles, and MRSA’s are squares. Now,
take a look at our phage’s legs.
[The presenter holds up one of the phage’s legs].
Does it match either of our two deputies’ receptors?
[Audience should say no].
That means that this phage virus cannot infect or kill either one of these good bacteria.
So, what about MRSA over here? Can Sheriff Phage infect him/her?
[Presenter holds up the legs and compare against
the MRSA volunteer.]
Ooooh, look at that! The shape matches and that means the phage virus can latch on and
infect this bacteria, killing it.
[The presenter turns lights on the MRSA costume
off. MRSA flops over.]
We just got rid of the bad bacterium without killing the good bacteria so our deputies are safe!
Let’s see if we can act this all out together. Deputies, bandits, sheriff, please take your places
on the stage. When I point at you, say your lines.
Enter Deputies Lacto and E. Coli.
[Point.]
“Protect the Town!”
Enter Sneaky Strep and MRSA the Resistant.
[Point.]
“We’re taking over!”
Antibiotics!
Lights off for the good and the bad! Enter Sheriff Phage.
[Audience throws balls.]
[Point.]
“There’s not enough room in this town for the two of us!”
Stand back to back, take two paces, and then fire!
[Phage fits tail piece into MRSA vest.]
Lights out for MRSA! Nanomedicine saves the day!
Let’s give all of our volunteers a round of applause for that great showdown.
So it looks like the real hero of the day is actually a virus, the phage virus! That’s why he/she
gets the Sheriff’s star!
Step 6: Summary
Let’s review the highlights from today’s showdown to see how savvy you Buckaroos are! Buzz
in with your remotes!
iRespond Quiz:
3. True or False? All bacteria are bad for us.
a. True
b. False
c. I don’t get sick………….ever.
We saw that not all bacteria and viruses are bad for us.
8. True or False? Antibiotics kill bad bacteria and good bacteria.
a. True
b. False
C.) What’s an antibiotic?
We saw that general antibiotics may kill the good bacteria in our bodies.
9. Microscopic life forms, like bacteria and viruses, recognize each other by
a. reading each others’ name tags
b. mind-reading
c. the shapes of molecules found on their surfaces called receptors
d. the way they smell
We saw that scientists can engineer a special virus that only fits onto the bad bacteria
and destroys them.
So, we call this little play Microbes: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. Who are the good
microbes? [Wait for audience to respond.] That’s right Deputies Lacto and E. Coli and Sheriff
Phage. Who is the Bad microbe? Yep: the Strep bandit. And, finally, who is the ugly? MRSA!
Well, folks, keep your eyes on the news for more on this therapy as you might just see it used
someday. Thank you everyone for coming to our demonstration today!
About the Props
Costumes
Bacterial Cells (including lactobacillus, e. coli, strep and MRSA) : These are simple vest-type
costumes that easily slip on and off. The names of the corresponding bacteria along with a
unique receptor shape for each type of bacterium are sewn over the surface of the costume.
The lights in the shapes represent life. When the lights are on, the bacterium is alive. When
the lights are off, it is dead.
Bacteriophage Costume: This is the hero of the day. It is able to identify a unique bad guy by
the shape on his legs. If the shape on his legs fits the shape on a bacterial surface (vest), then
the bacteriophage can kill that bacterium.
Our costumes were created by the Phoenix Theater costume shop:
Phoenix Theatre
100 E. McDowell Rd
Phoenix AZ 85004
Point of Contact: CeCe Sickler, [email protected], 602.889.6314
An alternative would be to make T-shirt costumes using the Cafe Press website:
http://www.cafepress.com/.
Velcro balls
The Velcro balls represent broad spectrum antibiotics. They stick to good and bad bacteria.
They do not stick to MRSA since it is resistant to antibiotics.