Krysta Coyle

"This was way better than school!" I loved joining the 23rd Victoria Guides this week to talk all things microbial. We had some great questions about how vaccines work - and then designed our own microbes to solve a problem!

Comment with your questions!! I've had a handful of meetings with youth 5-12 in the Lower Mainland (BC) about microbiology, and it's clear that they still have a lot of questions about COVID-19. I am highly trained in the immune system and various microbes (like the virus that causes COVID-19), although I'm not an expert on coronavirus specifically. I know there's still a lot of confusion and some false information circulating about COVID-19. I'm happy to answer questions if you comment below. If your question is from a young person, please give me an age so that I can frame my answer appropriately.

"No matter how much you tried to roadblock us, we have so much determination. We know police and security follow us around on our lands when we’re trying to teach people how to harvest medicine and how to trap. What keeps driving us is our children. That’s who we’re doing it for, and if we don’t do it, nobody’s gonna do it, and we’ll lose our culture." -Matriarch Freda Huson with Wet'suwet'en First Nation

Another great meeting with Guides in BC to talk about so much microbiology! I thought I'd share one of my favourite sites which helps everyone understand the scale of things in the world around us - Scale of the Universe. Zoom in to see microbes and molecules, zoom out to see planets and beyond! (A quick note that this requires Flash to run.)

I had a great time tonight with Sparks in Richmond! I joined them virtually to practice our scientific skills: questions, predictions, observations, and conclusions. We were scientists experimenting to learn about how things float! (We even talked about experiments they could do at home with their leftover Halloween treats!)

I virtually joined some Brownies in Surrey, BC to practice our engineering mindset. We designed and built puff-mobiles and solved problems along the way. Give it a try! How far can your vehicle go on a single breath? (Make sure you're following all public health guidelines if you want to do this activity.)

Last week, I virtually joined some Guides in Victoria, BC to talk about microbiology! We each designed our own bacteria to solve a problem. The Guides came up with fictional bacteria to prevent stomach aches after eating too much sugar , to cure dementia , to make food (like ) taste better, and to cure cancer . Ready for mine? My fictional bacteria eats COVID (SARS-nCoV2) for breakfast! PS: It's wearing a crown because "corona" is Latin for "crown"! Coronaviruses have spike proteins on their surfaces which makes them look like they're wearing crowns.