This term the year 6 classes are learning about ‘Marvellous Micro-organisms’ in Biological Sciences.  So far we have learnt that micro-organisms are a group of microscopic living organisms like fungi, viruses and bacteria.

Did you know that there are more micro-organisms living inside your mouth than there are people in the entire world??

We learnt that yeast used to make bread and other foods is actually a living micro-organism, as it is a type of fungus. To find out if yeast really is a living micro-organism we planned and conducted an investigation to find out if it grows and reproduces. We mixed combinations of yeast, sugar and warm water in bottles and covered them with balloons to trap any gas it might produce. We then left the bottles for one hour to see what happened.

After one hour we found that the bottles containing a mixture of yeast, sugar and warm water produced gas in the form of carbon dioxide to inflate the balloon. This is because yeast needs sugar, water and warmth to reproduce.