LEAP Lab: Microbial Buddies

Microbes live everywhere! From inside your gut to the middle of the ocean. They are tiny organisms, often so tiny that they can only be seen with a microscope. In order to survive, microbes interact to create a stable community that can survive in a sealed bottle for years! In this hands-on activity, participants will use craft materials to build their own model of a stable ecosystem in a bottle, and learn how microbes make energy through their interactions. At the end of the activity, get an up close look at a sample microbiome using mud from Little Sippewissett Marsh in Falmouth, MA.

This program is designed with ages 4-7 in mind, but all young scientists are welcome to attend.

Presented in collaboration with the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at MIT.