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Inventors and Inventions

The Inventors of Penicillin

The Inventors of Penicillin
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 8 to 9
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   8.11

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    notatum, disease-causing, priceless, recognition, sinus, observer, dose, milestone, molds, production, discovery, hypothesis, cantaloupe, patent, mass, moldy
     content words:    Alexander Fleming, Howard Florey, Oxford University, United States, Andrew Moyer, World War II, Before World War II, Both Fleming, Nobel Prize, Inventors Hall

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The Inventors of Penicillin
By Sharon Fabian 		  
1     The invention of penicillin was a team effort. Dr. Alexander Fleming began it in 1928 at St. Mary's Hospital in London. Then, in 1939, over ten years later, Dr. Howard Florey and his colleagues at Oxford University picked up where Fleming had left off. In 1941, Florey moved to the United States to continue the work. In 1948, Andrew Moyer was still making discoveries about penicillin.
 
2     Penicillin is an antibiotic; it kills disease-causing bacteria.
 
3     The invention of penicillin was a milestone in the practice of medicine. It changed the way doctors treated diseases. Today, Penicillin is a common drug often prescribed by doctors. If you have had an ear infection, a sinus infection, or another sickness caused by bacteria, you have probably been prescribed penicillin, or a similar antibiotic.

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