Home > Subjects > Biology > Level 1 > 1.8 Micro-organisms > Subject content
- Subject: Biology
- AS: AS90168
- Level: 1
- Credits: 2
- External
Biology 1.8 Describe biological ideas relating to how humans use and are affected by micro-organisms
Subject content
Make sure you have up-to-date course notes. Use them, and if you haven't got them, see your teacher. Micro-organisms will be selected from bacteria, fungi, and viruses. The topics may include:
- Biological ideas:
- structure of micro-organisms
- culturing micro-organisms
- life processes of micro-organisms
- factors that affect the life processes of micro-organisms (Stalking the Mysterious Microbe gives a wealth of information about biological ideas of micro-organisms).
- How humans use and are affected by micro-organisms:
- nutrient cycling
- food production
- sewage treatment
- food poisoning
- disease in living things (have a look at the online Bird flu fact sheet about the outbreak of influenza in birds and humans)
- microbial attack on everyday materials (helpful and harmful)
- antibiotics
- resistance to antibiotics (Superbugs provides interesting reading about the rise of antibiotics-resistance).
- Life processes of micro-organisms:
- nutrition. Check out this information sheet on Biogas and landfill gas that explains the anaerobic digestion of decaying organic matter by bacteria
- growth (check out the animation of bacteria growth
- respiration
- reproduction and excretion by bacteria and fungi
- reproduction of viruses.
From your notes learn these terms:
- inoculate
- extracellular digestion
- enzyme
- pathogen
- saprophyte
- aerobic
- anaerobic
- hyphae
- binary fission
- spores
- sporangium
- toxin
- disinfectant.
