Its fine to bet. You will get called by many worse 1 pair hands and also alot of draws like 8x and QJ KJ KQ. Having AK we cant value bet and we dont have many good cards for our hand to continue on so i would check AK and maybe c/c.

Given the limit, you're pretty much betting this 100% of the time since you want to get value from many second and third pair type hands + draws. As for AK, checking (possibly check/calling) might be a better idea.

I'm definitely betting here for value. Lots of pair plus 8 combos in villain's range.

We also want two streets of value before a four straight appears on the board killing our action. At the smallest stakes if you think you can get value by betting it's almost always best to just go ahead and bet. Keep it simple.

Same with AK on K97, just get your value while it's there.