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The bacterial world
Tiny Earth · agar plates and soil sampling
Tiny Earth · agar plates
What microorganisms live in Whanganui soil — and could one of them make an antibiotic?
Nature of Science · Living World · Microorganisms
A teaspoon of healthy soil can hold a billion bacteria you cannot see. What is growing beneath your feet — and could any of it matter for medicine?
Most living things in soil are too small to see. With your teacher, sample Whanganui soil, culture bacteria on agar plates, and compare colonies from different habitats. Your work connects to the global Tiny Earth search for new antibiotics.
First step
Follow Tiny Earth protocol with your teacher; document colonies and inhibition zones.
Expected outcome
Evidence-linked claim with Tiny Earth submission and safety reflection.
Local place context
Which soil or compost site on your whenua? Confirm Tiny Earth RAMS with your teacher.
What to do, in order
Your steps for this unit
Work through one step at a time. Your teacher releases the next step when the class is ready — the overview above is always available so you know where the unit is heading.
Step 1 of 7 available now
Warm-up quiz· Lesson 1
VentureYour stepLearn the invisible world· Lessons 1–2
VenturePlate your samples· Lessons 3–4
ObserveLockedYour teacher will unlock this when the class finishes step 1.
Observe colonies· Lessons 4–5
ObserveLockedYour teacher will unlock this when the class finishes step 1.
Make sense of your plates· Lessons 6–7
InferLockedYour teacher will unlock this when the class finishes step 1.
Build and share· Lessons 7–8
CreateLockedYour teacher will unlock this when the class finishes step 1.
Look back and finish· Lessons 9–10
EvaluateLockedYour teacher will unlock this when the class finishes step 1.
How you think
VOICE across 8–10 lessons across one term (Term 2 anchor)
VOICE = thinking phases · Sequence above = what to do · Tabs = where materials live
Warm-up captures naive thinking (one idea per question). Look-back pairs Q1–8 for gain; Q9–10 from investigation. Teacher-led biosafety mandatory.
- Venture
Lessons 1–2
Soil habitats, antibiotic context, wero
Materials: Learn
- Observe
Lessons 3–6
Aseptic work, plating, colony log, screening
Materials: Investigate
- Infer
Lessons 6–7
Zones, comparative claim, uncertainty
Materials: Investigate · Portfolio
- Create
Lessons 7–8
Display, Tiny Earth submission, FORGE
Materials: Make
- Evaluate
Lessons 9–10
Revision, safety reflection, portfolio
Materials: Portfolio · Check understanding
- Year
- Year 7–8 combined
- Audience
- Tiny Earth global database · School science display · School whānau · Local soil health community
- Equipment
- Nutrient agar plates, Inoculation loops and Bunsen or alcohol lamp, Incubator or warm cupboard (25–28°C), Soil collection containers, Hand lens or USB microscope
Unit pages
Pick your next page
One page at a time — warm-up, reading, tasks, builds, and portfolio. Locked cards unlock when your teacher releases the next class step.
- 1Type & save
Warm-up quiz
Lesson 1, before we start. No marks — just your first thoughts.
Open page → - Locked
Background reading
Step 2 — follow your class sequence.
- Locked
Investigation tasks
Step 3 — follow your class sequence.
- Locked
Build something
Step 4 — follow your class sequence.
- Locked
Discussion questions
Step 5 — follow your class sequence.
- Locked
Your portfolio
Step 6 — follow your class sequence.
- Locked
Look-back quiz
Step 7 — follow your class sequence.
Unit materials
Open a tab when your teacher or the sequence above points you there — locked tabs unlock with each new step.
Formative only — no grades. Several post-check questions repeat the warm-up on purpose so you can show how your thinking grew. Your teacher uses the rubric for professional judgement, not a score.
Pre-check · Lesson 1 (before teaching)
Warm-up quiz — 15–20 minutes. No right or wrong answers.
Q1 ·
What tiny living things do you think might live in soil?
Q2 ·
Soil from a garden vs soil from a bare path — which might have more tiny living things? Why?
Q3 ·
When do people usually hear about bacteria? What do you already think bacteria do?
Q4 ·
Two groups count spots on a plate and get different numbers. What would you do?
Q5 ·
What would make you think soil is healthy?
Q6 ·
If you looked at the same soil sample every day for a week, would it look the same? Why or why not?
Q7 ·
Taking a photo vs looking through a microscope — what is each good for?
Q8 ·
Why might scientists care what lives in local soil?
Q9 ·
What do you want to find out about soil or tiny living things?
Q10 ·
How confident are you about soil microbes right now? What is one thing you think you know? What is one thing you are unsure about?
AI mentor (inside your investigation)
Support appears in your investigation workspace — gentle prompts about your context, data, and analysis. Your teacher can turn assistance off for unassisted checkpoints.
Three ways to engage with this topic
They share a theme but serve different purposes — your class unit is structured and teacher-guided; community platforms are open; class insights are patterns from other school groups.
Your class inquiry world
Teacher-guided VOICE sequence, portfolio artefacts, datasets, and step-by-step release — consent-gated for your cohort.
Open school unit →Class insights from other groups
Anonymised patterns from school investigations on this topic — ideas to test in your dataset, not answers to copy.
Browse insights hub →Ten STEM inquiry worlds with dual angles: scientific investigation and makerspace builds on the same curriculum context.