Describe how Microorganisms Cause Decay

Microorganisms are so tiny that they can only be seen under a microscope.

You might expect that microbes are all bad - but in fact they're not! Amazingly, there are more 'good' types of microorganisms than 'bad' ones ('bad' ones are microbes that harm us).  For example, yeast is a microorganism that is very useful - it makes bread rise and is also used in the brewing of beer.

One way in which different sorts of microbes, such as bacteria, are amazingly helpful is in the decay and decomposition (rotting) of things that have died, like a branch from a tree. They turn decaying material into nutrients that are used for new growth.

Basically, these microbes are nature's recyclers, turning what was simply the remains of a living organism back into substances that can be used again and again. They're brilliant!

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