Bacterial Shapes and Movement

This short, targeted simulation is adapted from the full-length “Bacterial Cell Structure” simulation.

Global warming is causing the ice to melt in Antarctica, leading to the discovery of bacteria that have survived this extreme environment. In this simulation, you will learn about bacterial shapes and movement. To look at the bacteria sample, you will use a microscope that has a darkfield and brightfield setting. Then you will jump into the sample to get a closer look.

Prepare the microscope slide

First you will prepare the microscope slide of the Antarctic bacteria. Take a microscope slide from the stack and use a pipette to transfer the bacteria sample onto the microscope slide. Don’t forget to add the coverslip to the slide! Once the microscope slide is ready you can take it to the microscope and look at the bacteria sample.

Choose the microscope setting

小心地放置显微镜滑梯后，您将看到不同类型的细菌在屏幕上移动。在更详细地查看细菌之前，您需要为显微镜选择设置。比较显微镜Brightfield和Darkfield模式，然后选择您认为最适合清除细菌的最佳选择。然后准备深入研究这个微观环境。

Identify the shapes

Jump into the Antarctic bacteria sample, to explore the motility features and shapes of bacteria. Identify the names for the different bacterial shapes and observe how each of the bacteria moves. There is much to discover in this microscopic world! What will you learn today?