Bacteria are living beings so small that they can be seen only with a microscope which enlarges several hundred times, so they are called "micro-organisms". Bacteria are all about us-in the air, in water, in food, on the skin and even inside the body. Bacteria multiply by splitting in half. There are no males or females among bacteria. If they have the right conditions and food for living, they will simply multiply and keep on multiplying.
Bacteria have only one cell which is more like that of a plant than an animal. The outside is a skin like cover or "membrane", which is not water proof. The inside is filled with a move material called "protoplasm" and usually does not have a single center or nucleus. The outside cover is important because any chemical used to destroy the bacteria must be able to pass through the membrane. Around the whole is a slimy material which can change shape and often forms tiny threadlike tails, "flagella". Bacteria can although they have no feet. Some move by waving the flagella, and others seem to move by shortening and lengthening the cell, the way worms move.
Bacteria as we know cause some diseases which we call "infections" but bacteria is also very useful and helpful to human beings.
Bacteria have only one cell which is more like that of a plant than an animal. The outside is a skin like cover or "membrane", which is not water proof. The inside is filled with a move material called "protoplasm" and usually does not have a single center or nucleus. The outside cover is important because any chemical used to destroy the bacteria must be able to pass through the membrane. Around the whole is a slimy material which can change shape and often forms tiny threadlike tails, "flagella". Bacteria can although they have no feet. Some move by waving the flagella, and others seem to move by shortening and lengthening the cell, the way worms move.
Bacteria as we know cause some diseases which we call "infections" but bacteria is also very useful and helpful to human beings.
