Interactive Primary Newsletter 33 Pop-up Pals

“Horrible Science” magazine - a health warning Many teachers and parents may be familiar with the "Horrible" series of books written by Nick Arnold, illustrated by Tony de Saul and published by Eaglemoss. They are now bringing out a series of magazines based on their "Horrible Science" publication. These go out as part works entitled the Horrible Science Collection. To quote the Eaglemoss website: "The Horrible Science Collection takes a fun-filled, close-up look at the gory world of science. Aimed at 7-12 year olds, it comes with gadgets, gizmos and a truly toxic tin!" Recently, we’ve received some complaints about the contents of one of the later issues from this series - issue number 6, Hidden Horrors in the Home. These centred on this issue in general and about one article, in their ‘Loony Lab’ section, in particular. This is entitled Grow your own manky microbes. One of our complainants, a biology teacher and parent, described it as "irresponsible in the extreme". A plastic petri dish and sachet of agar powder are provided as a ’free gifts’ with this issue and young children are encouraged to sample areas which, unfortunately, are likely to harbour disease-causing organisms (pathogens). Such sites include a toilet handle, their mouths and the dog’s ear. As a possible extension it’s even suggested that they sample their noses as sources of ‘bogeys’. This last type of site is very likely to have pathogenic organisms such as Staphylococcus aureus. Put methicillin resistant in front of this name and you have antibiotic-resistant strains of this particular organism - MRSA. This ‘superbug’ can live in most healthy people without making them ill but if a patient in hospital with deep wounds and/or a low immune system contracts it, it can be life-theatening. Suggestions are given on how to prepare growth media and culture micro-organisms using kitchen equipment. The methods described both for ‘sterilising’ equipment for preparation or disposal are inadequate (and that’s being charitable). Nothing is said about keeping the dish of culture medium closed, once the samples have been added to the agar. In schools we do this routinely to stop potentially harmful organisms getting out. It’s called containment i.e. a major way to control any risks of infection. To quote our biology teacher parent again: "The potential for real harm is jaw-dropping. Even in school, under supervision of trained staff, we would not be allowed to do much of what the article suggests, namely for health and safety reasons. How can they be sure that every child will follow even the meagre and woefully inadequate safety advice given?" The honest answer is they can’t. We might well agree that many teachers and society at large have become far too risk-averse. We might usually also welcome developments and publications which seek to re-inject the fun into science. In our considered view, however, "Grow your own manky microbes" is a step too far in such a process and as such represents the unacceptable face of publishing to popularise science. We are given to understand that complaints about this issue of Horrible Science may already have been formally raised with Trading Standards Officers. We await the outcome with interest. Meantime, primary teachers with a healthy interest in this area (and it is a fascinating topic) are referred to Section 14 of "Be safe!" [1]. Secondary teachers of science at S1/S2 should consider both that reference and the revised edition of the Code of Practice on Safety in Microbiology which may be downloaded from the members’ section of the SSERC website [2]. Finally, as part the Improving Science Education 5-14 initiative SAPS and SSERC have been developing and trialling materials for microbiology and biotechnology at Levels E and F. Those we hope to publish this Autumn. Horrible science have produced an IMPORTANT NOTICE which pops-up when you enter their site. It doesn't, however, appear on any other pages which you may access via a search engine. References 1. Be safe! ASE, 2001 third edition, ISBN 0 86357 324 X 2. http://www.sserc.org.uk/members/Safety Messages/safety_messaMicrobiologyCoP.htm