Learn with life

Our oldest son has a yucky infection on his cheek. It started out as a scratch on his skin and some bacteria decided to move in. After a couple of trips to the doctor, he was feeling curious about what these germs were, so we did some research. I love Google images. (It can be dangerous if you're not careful about what you're searching for, so beware.)

We looked up three types of germs and what the names mean. Here's what we found:

Staphylococcus comes from the Greek word staphyle meaning "bunch of grapes", and indeed that is what it looks like! There are only 33 species of staphylococcus.
Streptococcus comes from the Greek word streptos meaning "easily bent or twisted". They grow in chains.
Viruses grow inside cells and are not considered cells on their own. The word virus comes from the Latin word virus meaning "toxic" or "poison". They look like hitchhikers, which is basically what they are.

I've attached a simple worksheet for anyone who would like to do a similar lesson. It's pretty basic, but kind of a neat way to make an "owie" into a school lesson.There's space for them to draw a picture of what each type looks like and add any written information they desire below each drawing.

Have fun!