Microbes and their activities have pervasive influence and deterministic roles in the functioning and health of the geosphere, atmosphere and biosphere, i.e. in nature. Microbiology can be considered a language of nature. We have argued that the relevance of microbes for everyday personal decisions and collective policies requires that society attains microbiology literacy, through the introduction of child‐relevant microbiology topics into school curricula. That is: children should learn the microbiology language of nature. Children can be effective transmitters of new and/or rapidly evolving knowledge within families and beyond, where there is a substantive information asymmetry (witness digital technology, social media, and new languages in foreign countries). They can thus be key disseminators of microbiology knowledge, where there will be information asymmetry for the foreseeable future, and thereby contribute to the attainment of microbiology literacy in society. The education of family and friends can be encouraged/stimulated by home assignments, family leisure projects, and school‐organised microbiology‐centric social‐education events. Children are key stakeholders in family decisions. Their microbiology knowledge, and their dissemination of it, can help inform and increase the objectivity of such decisions.

中文翻译：

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社会迫切需要微生物学知识：儿童作为教育者。

微生物及其活动对地圈、大气和生物圈（即自然界）的功能和健康具有普遍影响和决定性作用。微生物学可以被认为是一种自然语言。我们认为，微生物与日常个人决策和集体政策的相关性要求社会通过将与儿童相关的微生物学主题引入学校课程来获得微生物学素养。那就是：孩子应该学习大自然的微生物学语言. 儿童可以成为家庭内外新知识和/或快速发展知识的有效传播者，在这些地方存在实质性信息不对称（在国外见证数字技术、社交媒体和新语言）。因此，它们可以成为微生物学知识的关键传播者，在可预见的未来将存在信息不对称，从而有助于提高社会微生物学素养。家庭作业、家庭休闲项目和学校组织的以微生物学为中心的社会教育活动可以鼓励/刺激家人和朋友的教育。儿童是家庭决策的关键利益相关者。他们的微生物学知识及其传播有助于为此类决策提供信息并提高其客观性。