Fungus and the tree man

This week in class we discussed several types of fungi that affect humans. Athletes foot is an infection caused by tinea fungus, which is a parasitic fungus. Click on the link near the foot to learn about this fungal infection. Many of you play school sports. What can you do to protect yourself from this fungus? Post me an answer.

Athlete's Foot



Many of you thought the abnormal growth of warts on the man from Indonesia, known as the tree man, was caused by fungus. I did some research and found it is not caused by a fungus. It is actually HPV, human papillomavirus. Notice the "virus" in the name.
What do you remember about a virus?
In order to understand Dede Koswara's condition, click on the health link below and read the article.

CNN Health link

The Protist Plasmodium and Malaria

This past week we learned about animal like protists. One group is the sporozoans. This group of parasitic protists are responsible for deadly diseases like malaria. Malaria is a disease that affects 40 million people each year, killing 2 million in Africa alone. The life cycle of plasmodium, a unicellular protist, uses the mosquito, a common pest in many parts of the world.

The disease arises when an infected mosquito bites a person and transfers plasmodium into the blood stream of the human. From there it travels to the liver.

Click on the mosquito picture on this page and learn about malaria from the Why Files.


What can be done to stop this deadly protist? Some scientists are working to change the DNA of the protist. Others are working on a treatment that would help the body fight the parasite once it enters the body. Remember learning about vaccines and the body making memory cells? Click on the link below and watch as a scientist describes what is happening in his lab with this new idea.

Breeding Mosquitoes

Post me a comment and tell me why everyone in the video are wearing suits and masks.
They were also working with microscopes to do their work. Tell me what you think about using the microscope. What is your favorite part of lab work?

The Class Protist Lab-Euglena

This past week we looked at Euglena and Paramecium in science class. It was fun and challenging to look at live organisms under the microscope. They didn't always stay still and focusing was tricky. We took pictures and some video of the microorganisms. Good job to all the students. These are Euglena, a unicellular and autotrophic organism. They are extremely small even under the microscope. Video (40x) and picture (10x) from Ashley's microscope. Well done Ashley P.!

Great Protista Videos

There are just too many to show in class. I have collected some good ones here. Just click on the link to view the clip. Post me a comment and tell me which is your favorite and why.

amoeba engulfing dinner

euglena with visible eye spot

stentor bouncing an amoeba
The stentor doe not eat the amoeba but notice the other food being sucked up!

stentor getting rid of waste

Did you find any good protist videos online? Post me a comment and give me the link.

Bacteria Dance

If you can't get the bacteria dance out of your head here is the link that will take you there

Check it out and even show it to someone at home.

Bacteria Song

These stuffed microbes were in the video. Click this link to learn more about them. Stuffed Microbes- a crazy idea that sells!

Kingdom Protista

Yes, this slime mold is a protista!

This week starts our next chapter on Protista. This is how website Windows to the Universe describes protista:

Members of the Kingdom Protista are the simplest of the eukaryotes.
Protists are an unusual group of organisms that were put together
because they don't really seem to belong to any other group. Some
protists perform photosynthesis like plants while others move around
and act like animals, but protists are neither plants nor animals.
They're not fungi either - even though some might like to "think" they are!
In some ways, the Kingdom Protista is home for the "leftover" organisms
that couldn't be classified elsewhere. You might not think a tiny one-celled
amoeba has much in common with a giant sea kelp,
but they're both members of this kingdom.

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/life/protista.html

Check out the Microbe Zoo, a science site from Montana University.

Microbe Zoo

Click on the zoo icon on the site (looks just like the one here) and read about microbes for hours and hours! Ok, you might not want to read for hours but at least check out one microbe and post me a note about it. An extra surprise in class if you do :)
Remember more information is better than the minimum.