Bacteria The First Microbes 5 Looking Ahead On completing this chapter, you should be able to: Appreciate the enormous span of time for which bacteria have existed on Earth and understand their contributions to the formation of the world as we know it Summarize the various forms of known bacteria and define many of the submicroscopic structures associated with a bacterial cell Describe the process by which bacteria reproduce and grasp the significance of the frequency of bacterial replication Looking Ahead On completing this chapter, you should be able to: Identify some of the environments in which bacteria thrive and recognize the different types of cultivation techniques available for growing bacteria in the laboratory