Blast-a-Biofilm

• Available on request
• 2-4 hours

Biofilms are common in nature as the favoured mode of growth for microbes.

Biofilms affect many parts of everyday life.

This activity is composed of four parts:

• an overview of the types of common pathogenic microbes
• a practical experiment using agar plates and swabs to test clean and dirty areas within the classroom and on their hands and feet. We will share the results with the school at at a later date in the form of pictures.
• an experiment using plaque disclosing tablets to identify biofilms in the mouth
• using ice cube trays to represent teeth, the class will first build, then attempt to 'blast' a-biofilm first using water pistols. They will then try the same by using tooth brushes. This enables the robust nature of biofilms to become apparent. The activity itself is demonstrated in relation to the importance of brushing teeth.

We can deliver this activity upon request from primary schools or public event organisers. We also run it at a number of Cardiff University school engagement events.

Find out more

For more information about the activity, please visit our website.

About the organiser

This activity is organised by Cardiff Institute for Tissue Engineering and Repair. Contact Amy Smith at citer@cardiff.ac.uk or +44 (0)29 2087 0129 for more details.