Today in Science, we kicked off the year with a short unit (some might say ‘micro-unit’) where we learn all about those tiny living organisms that can be found absolutely anywhere and everywhere- microorganisms!

We started off the lesson by learning the different types, names, shapes and sizes of common microbes and then creating models of these using Playdoh- it’s safe to say we know our lactobacillus from our influenza!

Year 6 then went on to consider how microorganisms can be useful (which was surprising for some of us) and explored how yeast is a type of fungus which begins growing and respiring once activated by warm water and sugar. We saw how carbon dioxide is produced during the fermentation process and understood that it is this gas that produces bubbles and causes bread dough to rise! We looked at the effect sugar that has on fermentation and saw how sugar sped up this process.