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National project · Science communication

Micromascotas

A project to discover the microorganisms in our homes through citizen science, workshops and low-cost hardware

About the project

Micromascotas (‘Micropets’) brought the microscopic world closer to the public: bacteria, fungi, yeasts and mites, how to look after them, the conditions they grow best in and their relationship with humans. It was developed by BIFI and Fundación Ibercivis with the Cesar Laboratories at Etopia (Zaragoza).

The project ran in two editions. Micromascotas I had two complementary strands:

  • Mites: a citizen science experiment in which participants sent in dust samples from their homes (collected with a cotton bud from the edge of a door) or small pieces of pillows, soft toys, cleaning cloths or potting soil, together with a questionnaire.
  • Micropet farm: an interdisciplinary educational programme, based on cooperative learning and problem solving, aimed mainly at secondary schools.

Micromascotas II continued this work, adding new biohardware devices and a ‘scientific BioEscape Room’.

Project objectives

  • Give the public hands-on experience of microbiology and show what this branch of science can do.
  • Detect and identify in the laboratory the microorganisms in the samples and the factors that influence their distribution.
  • Use the data to create a map of microorganisms, the ‘micro wildlife’ of the home.
  • Train teachers to run the educational project in their schools.

The role of Ibercivis

Ibercivis developed the project together with BIFI. It ran the website and the call for the public to send in samples, organised the teacher workshops and promoted the project in the media and at events.

Our activities

  • A campaign to collect dust samples from homes all over Spain, under the slogan ‘Wanted: a thousand citizens’.
  • Analysis of the samples using microscopy and microbiology techniques in the Cesar Laboratories wet lab at Etopia.
  • Workshops for teachers in Aragon on low-cost do-it-yourself (DIY-DIWO) hardware: a magnetic stirrer with hotplate, a microscope, an incubator, and techniques for looking after the micropets.
  • Use of the Etopia laboratories by schools.
  • A ‘scientific BioEscape Room’ at Etopia, with challenges based on biochemistry and microbiology techniques and on the work of a researcher.
  • Presentation of the project at the 8th Outreach Days of the University of Zaragoza’s Scientific Culture Unit (March 2017).

Project details

Type of project

National

Duration

2017 – 2019

Funding

Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT)

Consortium

BIFI (University of Zaragoza) and Fundación Ibercivis, with the Cesar Laboratories at Etopia

Area

Science communication