Resources — The Microbe Institute

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Below are resources we recommend: those we created and those created by others.

Sourdough Starter Name Generator

Create more: Give your sourdough starter a unique name with a name generator created from thousands of real starter names.

Watch a Microbe TED Talk

Learn more: View our founder’s, Dr. Madden’s, TED talk on the applications of the microbes that live around us.

Make Sourdough for Science

Discover more: Create your own sourdough starter and learn more about the microbes you are catching from the wild to help you make beautiful bread.

Microbe (Yeast) Coloring Page

Create more: Color in a baking yeast coloring page as you enjoy a slice of bread made possible by these microscopic creatures.

Microbe Crayons

Create more: Download the microbe crayon labels to relabel your own crayons and learn about the microbes that can generate this rainbow of pigments.

Interactive Lichen Guide

Discover more: Use our “choose your own adventure”-style guide to find lichens near you and engage with creative, educational, and research activities associated with these creatures.

Make a 3D Printed Microbe Hat

Create more: Make a 3D printed microbe hat to develop science communication and storytelling skills

Use Microbe Microscopy Images in Accessories

Create more: See how this Microbe Institute Fellow uses microscopy images of yeast to make functional and fashionable accessories while changing the conversation about microbes.

An AR App to Visit the Microbial World

Discover more: Download the Community of Microbes app and explore the animated ‘trigger’ images to learn about microbes near you.

Make a Microbe-Powered Jack-o-Lantern

Create more: Make a microbe fuel cell to power a jack-o-lantern with just soil.

Watch a Fungus Documentary

Learn more: Learn more about the fungi in our world— the helpful, the dangerous, and the mysterious—featuring our Founder, Anne. A. Madden. (External resource.)

Read About Discovering Microbes from Wasps

Learn more: Read Dr. Madden’s story of how she finds new yeasts from inside wasps in this visual journalism story. (External resource, written by our founder, Dr. Madden).

Agar Art

Create more: Painting with microbes offers the opportunity to work with microbes to create compelling visuals. (External resource.)

Microbe Museum

Visit more: Micropia is the world’s only microbiology museum. (External resource.)

Take a Microbial Art Walk

Visit more: A gallery of art you can purchase that was inspired by microbes. (External resource.)

Read a Microbe Blog

Learn more: Small Things Considered is a microbiology blog that digs deeply into new research and old theories related to the science of microbes. (External resource.)

Microbial Mutualism Lesson Plan

Create more: A multi-module lesson plan that teaches students about mutualisms and symbiosis, provides authentic research experience, and helps students engage with science communication projects.

Learn About How Microbes Help Us

Discover more: Visit this website—as a project created by our Fellow, high school student Sam Ruk—to learn about how microbes help us every day.

Make a Microbe Zoo

Discover more: Create your own winogradsky column (microbial zoo) and watch colorful microbes come alive before your eyes. (External resource.)

Discover Antibiotics at Home

Discover more: Help researchers discover novel antibiotics from the bacteria that live in your soil. (External resource.)

Find Other Microbe Lesson Plans

Learn more: American Society of Microbiology offers microbiology lesson modules for all ages. (External resource.)

Download a Free Microbe Activity Book

Learn more: Download this free activity book, created by our Fellow, Tracy Debenport, to access word searches, coloring pages, and other activities all related to how microbes improve our world.

Listen to Yeast Make the Flavors of Beer

Listen more: Listen to how our partner, sound artist Jude Casseday, translated yeast fermentation data into music in this multisensory teaching tool.

Support a Science History Graphic Novel

Read more: We’ve partnered with scientist and science writer Corrado Nai, Ph.D. on his international team’s efforts to create a graphic novel that shares the story of the origins of solidified nutrient media (agar petri plates) and the woman scientist behind this “dessert that changed the world.” Read more about their project here.

There are over a trillion microbial species in this world. It’s estimated we’ve discovered only 10% of them.