MBIO 2014 General Microbiology                                                                                                                          Page 1 of 3

Worksheet / Study Question Set #1:  Overview of Microbiology

 

 

1.         Define microbiology.

 

 

 

2.         What are the six major groups of organisms studied in microbiology?

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.         Which characteristics make microorganisms suitable for laboratory study?

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.         Describe at least four practical applications of microbiology to everyday life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.         Explain how microorganisms are involved in the flow of energy and nutrients through the Earth’s ecosystem.

 

 

 

 

 

6.         List at least four products the production of which involves the activity of microorganisms.

 

 

 

 

 

7.         What is bioremediation?  How might it be used in North West Arkansas?

 

 

           

 

 

8.         What is a pathogen?  List at least four groups of organisms among which pathogens can be found.  

 

 

 

 

 

9.         Distinguish free living organisms from a parasitic organism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

10.       Describe three key differences between a prokaryotic cell and a eukaryotic cell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

11.       Is a virus a cell?  Explain your answer.

 

 

 

 

 

12.       Is a virus alive?  Explain your answer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

13.       What unit of measure would most commonly be used to describe the size of a bacterial cell?  A Virus?   

 

 

 

14.       Relate the invention of the microscope to the demise of the theory of spontaneous generation (a.k.a. abiognesis).

 

 

15.       Describe (using a flow diagram) the sequence of events that takes place during the process             known as the scientific method.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16.       In the space provided write in the name of the individual to which each of the following statements is attributed. 

 

Leeuwenhoek                        Cohn               Holmes           Koch  

Semmelweiss                        Lister              Pasteur

           

a. ______________________ Applied the scientific method to demonstrating that a particular disease is caused by a particular organism.

 

b. ______________________ Invented a process for reducing the number of microorganisms in wine and milk by rapidly heating and cooling them before the quality of the product is compromised.

 

c. ______________________ Discovered heat-resistant bacterial Endospores.

 

d. ______________________ Introduced aseptic technique.

 

e. ______________________ Invented an early microscope that could magnify an image up to 300 times, and descried “animalcules” in various materials he examined.

 

f. _______________________ Observed, and noted, that mothers that gave birth at home experiences fewer infections than those giving birth in hospitals of his time.

 

g. ______________________ Noted that mothers whose babies were delivered by doctors coming directly from the autopsy room experienced a higher rate of infection.