Germ Busters A game of life or death.

Two deadly foes – only one will survive Bacteria need a suitable environment to grow and reproduce. The body provides such an environment. In order to survive the body must protect itself from harmful bacteria

Team 1 – The Body Defences –Skin –Nose Toxins –Antibodies

Team 2 – Bacteria Reproduce quickly Aim to overtake the body and kill the host.

The personalities ‘Bacteria Queen’ ‘The Brain behind the Body’

Two paths – one goal To reproduce bacteria need a suitable environment such as the body. The first obstacle to overcome is the body’s outer defence layer – either the skin or the nose.

Phase 1 – The skin Bacteria need to shoot goals through netball hoops – this represents bacteria getting through pores and cuts in the skin. Once a bacterium has shot a goal, he/she can move on to the next phase.

Phase 1 – The nose The warm moist conditions of the nose may seem like an ideal place for the growth of bacteria. However, the liquids produced by the cells lining the nose contain substances which kill most bacteria.

Bacteria must run through the nasal passage gauntlet without being hit by a ball (toxin). Nose cells must try and hit bacteria below the waist. Phase 1 – The nose (cont.)

Phase 2 – The immune system If bacteria penetrate the skin they find the moist, warm conditions ideal for growth. When this happens our immune system comes into action.

Goal of the bacteria Bacteria need to walk across the tennis courts without being stopped by an antibody. Their goal is to reach the fence. If 10 bacteria can reach the fence, this will represent successful invasion of the body and the bacteria will win the game!

Goal of the antibodies Antibodies are special types of proteins designed to attack the surface of a particular pathogen. They can attach to the cell wall of a bacterium and disable it. Antibodies can run, but they can only disable a bacterium if they can match its protein coat code.

Cracking the protein code Before the game, the bacteria will decide on a number between 1 and 10. All of the bacteria have the same number. When an antibody tags a bacterium, he/she needs to guess a number between 1 and 10. If the antibody guesses the correct number, the bacterium is disabled and must sit down. If the antibody guesses an incorrect number it cannot approach that same bacterium again.

Antibody queue Fence (the goal) bacterium No 6? Start line

Strategy considerations - Bacteria You may benefit by focusing your attacks on one part of the body to try and overwhelm its defences.

Strategy considerations - Body How many people should be allocated to defend the nasal passage? (you will only have 5 nerf balls) How many people should be allocated to be antibodies?