From training to the classroom: educational posters that extend the life of microbiology in schools

There are training sessions that end when the room is closed… and there are those that stay with us, continuing the journey long after that moment.

The course “Supporting teaching and learning in biological sciences: practical training on host–microorganism interactions” was a clear example of the latter: a formative experience with impact beyond the scheduled timeframe, as it translated into resources, strategies, and pedagogical intentions that continue into school practice.

The text previously published on EduBiota — “When microorganisms and teachers meet: a training experience that brought new life to Biology teaching” — captures well the essence of this journey: an active learning approach, grounded in scientific evidence, with a strong emphasis on the operationalisation of laboratory practices and on building explicit connections between microbiology content and the curriculum. This framework now gains an additional dimension with the dissemination of the posters produced by the participants.

A voluntary task, a collective commitment

The production of posters was proposed as an optional task. Nevertheless, all participants engaged actively in the process of designing and developing them. This, in itself, is pedagogically significant: when training creates conditions for participants to recognise the utility, relevance, and transferability of what they produce, engagement no longer depends on obligation, but emerges from the meaning attributed to the work.

It is important to emphasise that these posters do not merely function as a record of the process. Rather, they are didactic resources with high transferability, designed to be integrated into teaching practices in schools — whether as visual organisers of knowledge or as tools to support inquiry and investigation in classroom and laboratory contexts.

Posters as pedagogical devices

From a didactic perspective, a well-designed poster can serve multiple functions: introducing concepts, structuring relationships, supporting systematisation, enabling school-based scientific communication, and scaffolding inquiry-based tasks.

Across this set of posters, a consistent effort can be observed to articulate:

• core concepts (microbiota, dysbiosis, symbiosis, fermentation, microbial diversity);

• contexts close to students’ everyday lives (nutrition, health, daily products, cultural and food heritage);

• concrete possibilities for pedagogical exploration (tasks, guiding questions, experimental activities).

The thematic diversity is, in itself, a strength: it allows host–microorganism interactions to be addressed not as a marginal topic, but as a structuring axis that connects health, ecology, biotechnology, citizenship, and scientific culture.

Thematic pathways with potential for curricular integration

1) Nutrition and the microbiota: understanding to make better decisions

The poster “Today’s plate is tomorrow’s microbiota” presents a clear and pedagogically rich narrative, by framing the microbiota as a functional dimension of the organism, introducing the concept of dysbiosis, and exploring the relationship between dietary patterns and microbial balance.

It is particularly well suited to support health literacy, enabling informed discussions about eating habits that move beyond moralistic approaches and instead foster critical analysis grounded in criteria and evidence.

Possible avenues for exploration:

• Critical analysis of claims (alternative conceptions vs. validated knowledge): selection of common statements (e.g., about “miracle foods”, probiotics, ultra-processed foods) and evaluation of their plausibility, with a focus on sources, arguments, and limitations.

• Development of criteria for microbiota-supporting food choices: identification of indicators (e.g., fibre intake, fermented foods, plant diversity) and reflection on feasibility, socioeconomic context, and cultural habits.

  
  

2) The holobiont and the ecology of the body: a systems perspective

In the poster “Us and our ‘minions’”, the use of engaging language is accompanied by concepts that support a deeper reading: holobiont, microbiota functions (barrier effect, immunomodulation, synthesis of compounds), and factors that disrupt microbial balance.

This type of resource facilitates a systems-based approach, helping to consolidate the idea that health results from interactions and dynamic equilibria, rather than simply from the presence or absence of pathogenic agents.

Possible avenues for exploration:

• Concept maps to structure relationships: holobiont → microbiota → functions → disrupting factors → consequences.

• Guided discussion on antibiotics and responsibility: when they are indispensable, when they should be avoided, and what impacts they may have on the microbiota and on antimicrobial resistance, adjusting the depth to the educational level.

  
  
  
  

3) Inquiry in school settings: microbial diversity and sourdough starters

The poster “Analysis of the microbiological diversity of sourdough starters in a school setting” brings microbiology closer to a school-based scientific inquiry approach: observation, comparison between samples, hypothesis formulation, and discussion of variables. Beyond its experimental value, it also incorporates a cultural and territorial context (bread and traditional fermentation), which supports interdisciplinarity and helps contextualise knowledge.

Possible avenues for exploration:

• Inquiry project built around guiding questions: “What factors may explain differences between sourdough starters?”; “How can variables be controlled?”; “What indicators can we observe with the resources available?”

• Methodological work on limitations and inference: what can be concluded from morphological observations and culturing; what remains unresolved without molecular techniques; and how to communicate results rigorously.

4) Fermentation and heritage: from must to Port wine

“From Must to Port: Experimental Enology for Students” connects microbiological and biochemical processes with a real and culturally meaningful context. Fermentation is presented here both as a scientific phenomenon and as a technological and historical process. It is a resource with strong potential to explore key concepts (metabolism, CO₂ production, sugar consumption, the role of yeasts) while also promoting scientific culture through authentic situations.

Possible avenues for exploration:

• Teaching sequences centred on observable evidence: gas production, mass variation, data recording, and interpretation.

• Links to citizenship and literacy: age-appropriate, informed discussions about alcohol, health, and responsible consumption, distinguishing scientific knowledge from oversimplified messages.

  
  

EduBiota at its best: continuity, sharing, and impact

What these posters make evident is a central idea: teacher education gains greater depth when it is translated into transferable pedagogical artefacts that extend learning and make it shareable. Because they were produced by teachers, with an awareness of the real conditions of schools, these materials tend to be more realistic, more adaptable, and more closely aligned with concrete needs.

More than simply “final products”, these posters are devices of continuity: they organise knowledge, stimulate problematisation, support inquiry, and communicate science with clear didactic intent. As such, they are an excellent example of how teacher education can be transformed into embedded capacity — and of how Biology teaching can genuinely gain new life when microorganisms and teachers meet with purpose.