1) The document describes an activity where students look at microbes under a microscope and record their observations. They examine things like pond water to find microbes and look at their characteristics. 2) Common microbes found include bacteria, which have a cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, ribosomes, and genetic material in the cytoplasm. They can be rod-shaped, spherical, or spiral. 3) Microbes are found almost everywhere on Earth and play important ecological roles as decomposers, producers, and parts of the food web.