Bacteria and Enzymes in Cheese

image from here

Of course any unit on cheese has to include discussion of bacteria and enzymes. Here are some resources we used:

A video about Louis Pasteur and the development of Pasteurization. (This one is weird, but my kids liked it.)

Another video on the history of pasteurization.

How does pasteurization kill bacteria?

Cool photos of bacteria in the mouth

List of common dairy bacteria

Cool video showing how many bacteria are found on our hands. Plus you get to hear the narrator (Australian?) call geysers "geezers."

Cute video introduction to enzymes.

How enzymes work.

Also to go along with our study of beneficial bacteria, we made yogurt. We do this regularly, but it was fun to actually talk about what is happening on a microscopic level. We like to make our own yogurt in the crock pot. My friend Andrea told me about this method, and it's worked really well for us.