Fun Facts About Microbes

Microbes are found everywhere in the world.

Microbes (also sometimes called "bugs") are microscopic organisms. They are very small. Fungi, bacteria, protozoa, and viruses are all different types of microbes. Even though you can't see them without a microscope, microbes are everywhere you go.

Some microbes are bad, because they can cause diseases, but other microbes are good and help people. For example, yeast is a helpful microbe that humans use to make breads. Other good microbes are used to make medicines for people and their animals.

Might E. Microbe (the "E" stands for "Environmental") and the Microbial Action Team are very good because they clean-up polluted water and soil. Different combinations of good microbes can help farmers grow bigger crops without fertilizers that harm the environment.

The more you learn about microbes, the more you'll appreciate them:

Microbes are the oldest form of life on Earth. They've been here for 3.8 billion years!
Microbes, by weight, represent 60 percent of the biomass of all life on Earth!
Microbes produce more than half of all the oxygen we breathe!
Microbes are the ultimate survivors: they are found just about everywhere on Earth!
A liter of coastal seawater can contain a billion or more microbes!
A single gram of soil can contain more than a billion microbes!
In the soil under your feet, there might be a million different types of microbes!

The right combinations of helpful microbes can eat pollution until the pollution disappears. Then the microbes disappear, because there's no more pollution for them to eat.

To learn more about helpful microbes, find books you can read at the library or search online for more fun facts.

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