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Merrimack Valley

Bacteria isn't always a bad thing Andover, Lawrence students come together to learn about the healthy, and unhealthy, side of bacteria

By Crystal Bozek
Staff Writer
Published: March 28, 2008

ANDOVER — West Elementary student Alex Baptiste peered down into the electronic microscope, checking out a bunch of long, rod-shaped bacteria.

"Whoa," the 11-year-old said. "These look like cheese puffs."

You wouldn't necessarily want to eat them, however. They are E .coli, and certain strains can cause food poisoning in humans, a fact Samantha Delacruz of Lawrence already knows at age 10.

"Eww. Eww. Eww. E. coli make people sick," she said when her turn came for a peek yesterday. "It makes me sick just looking at it."

For the past four Thursday mornings, Alex, Samantha and 38 other fifth-graders from Lawrence and Andover have come face to face with the microorganisms.

It's part of "Bacteria Around You," a long-running partnership between Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Andover schools and Lawrence's Bruce School. Andover's South Elementary School hosts the program. Twenty-two employees from Wyeth's Andover facilities — known to children as the scientists — teach students about where bacteria come from, how they spread and how to kill the bad kinds.

"I took a microbiology course in college, and we learned about gram stains, positives and negatives," said Patricia Barrett, principal of Andover's Sanborn School. "These kids are learning that in the fifth grade. It's incredible."

Retiring South Elementary Principal Eileen Woods helped start the program with the Genetics Institute 18 years ago. It has continued uninterrupted, even after Wyeth bought out the company in 1997.

Wyeth picks up the entire cost.

The partnership has taken on extra importance in recent years, as fifth-graders now take an MCAS test in science.

"I'm amazed that some kids come back years later and tell me how this influenced their choice to go into biology or other sciences," Woods said. "You light up the interest at this age and it keeps going. These people are great role models."

Many of the "scientists" Wyeth sends over are women, so that girls can see women working in the field, Woods said, debunking the stereotype that the laboratory is a man's world.

Dressed in lab coats, safety goggles and latex gloves, the students yesterday analyzed lab plates they had smeared with bacteria the week before. The E. coli smear was a shiny green.

They got a closer look under the microscope. Staphylococcus aureus looked like tiny clusters of grapes. Bacillus subtilis resembled little pink Good and Plenty candies.

Scientist Kristina Ciarametaro told the students how she's had to use a microscope, checking cells for any contaminants.

"If there was any contamination, it was like looking at a party under the microscope," she said as a few children laughed. "Things moving everywhere."

Next week is their last class, and they will take on genetics, making candy models of DNA strands.

Jaclyn Long, 11, of Andover's South Elementary, said the early morning classes have been "awesome."

"I never knew bacteria would be so important in life," Jaclyn said. "I always thought it was a bad thing only. But it's even in pickles."

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Fast facts about bacteria

r Bacteria are not visible to the naked eye.

r Bacillus anthracis is one of the largest types of bacteria.

r If you lay 40,000 Bacillus anthracis bacteria in a row, it equals the length of a single rice grain.

r Bacteria can be found on your skin, in your throat and in your gut.

r You eat bacteria in yogurt, cheeses and pickles.

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