Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My science fair project question: do curry spices kill bacteria? If so, out of 5 curry spices, which one is the most effective against bacteria and will produce the largest zone of inhibition?

ok so my project is due soon and i cant think of a good, catchy title for my project and i need help! my results where that none of the 5 curry spices that i tested killed no bacteria leaving no zone of inhibition.
so basically my project failed and im kinda sad that i didnt have the results that i was expecting, but im fine . Well my teacher said because I had no data, I have to make my backboard really good so I might have a chance of getting an award or even into regionals. So this is why i need a good catchy, short title for my project. also, curry spices are not spicy so i would like to have a title that would not go into spicy foods and that stuff.

THANKS SO MUCH IN ADVANCE.

Following the scientific method is a lot more important than getting the results you were expecting. A lot of great discoveries actually came about by accident. Even if your data didn't support your hypothesis, it's still data and you should be proud of your work!
For the title, maybe you could try something like, Can curry kill bacteria?. It's not the most catchy, but the alliteration kind of makes it work. Maybe someone else will have a better suggestion or you can always try asking your parents or friends. If your really concerned about your project display, you may want to look at some of the suggestions https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ml#keyinfo here if you haven't already.

Hello smurf. I'm sorry you didn't get the results you were expecting, but by no means does that mean your experiment was a failure. If we knew the outcome before conducting the experiment, why do the experiment in the first place?

You ABSOLUTELY have data! Without data, you wouldn't be able to say that curry spices don't kill bacteria. For scientists looking for innovative ways to defeat bacteria, this can be a crucial piece of information so that they don't waste their time and money to determine what you already did. I'm sure those scientists would consider your experiment a huge success! In my experience, I typically learn more from tests where the conclusions didn't match the hypothesis.

I think your question is a great title: do curry spices kill bacteria? It is simple, to the point, and leaves no question as to what your experiment was about. A catchy title will not win you science fairs if you did not use sound scientific principles and present your conclusions in a manner understandable, useful, and interesting to others.

It will be critical for you to include on your board:

1. Discuss that conclusion contradicts your hypothesis...don't hide from it, and keep wording in a positive light!

2. Can you definitively say that your experimental procedures are not the cause of the contradictory results? In other words, is there something in your experimental procedures that you could change that could have changed the outcome of the test? How many samples did you do for each spice? The more samples the better to have greater confidence that your results are correct. If you didn't do at least 3 samples for each spice and if you have time, I suggest you collect more samples. Include sample size in your board.

3. How did you determine the spices didn't kill bacteria? Did you do some sort of a culture count? You can make graphs of before / after bacteria count for each spice (perhaps average culture count across all samples for each spice) to show there is no difference. Did you take pictures of the bacteria cultures? Pictures are great additions to presentation boards.

4. As I suggested above about scientists using this data to advance their own study of what is effective in killing bacteria, your results could be a stepping stone to further research. Include some ideas of how you think your results will be useful to others.

Be sure to read through the links under "Communicating Your Results" here. They offer great advice on what to include in your board, including when your results don't match your hypothesis.
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ndex.shtml

If you provide more details of the data collected, we can talk more as to what data to present and how, if you like. In the meantime, I hope the information above helps. I want to emphasize this again...an experiment with results that does not support the hypothesis is not a failed experiment! Keep smiling and be proud of your test.

Good luck!

Deanna is completely on target with her response. It is also useful to note that there is evidence that some spices do have some antimicrobial properties: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20492235
This means it was good to either try to confirm someone else's results (essential to science!) or extend them to other spices. What spices did you use? If nothing has been published on them before then this is new data. So-called negative data is still useful if the experiment was done properly so that others don't try the same conditions that didn't work and waste their time, money, and effort. Again, this is an essential part of science. On the other hand if something has been published on these spies you used and it conflicts with your findings then that might reveal something important too. Maybe your spices were old? Maybe they were ground to coarsely, or were exposed to excessive heat or light or were a different variety ... Don't worry, be calm and think about it. Results like this are more common than anything else in science. Trust me.

Cheers,
Colin

Thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it. Thanks for the website. I know have a clear understanding of what I should do. Thanks so much!

Thanks so much for your advice and help! I really appreciate it. I feel a lot better now.

For the samples, I did 5 trials and I used 5 different spices. None of them had a zone of inhibition as far as my teacher and I could tell. I actually did my test twice due to no zone on inhibition. The second time I sterilized the curry spices by putting the spices with sterilized water and then holding the test tube in boiling water for 3-5 minutes. I did this for my second time around and I still got the same
results: no zone of inhibition.

Did you try different doses of spices? It's possible you did not use enough to see an effect or those spices do not have antimicrobial properties. Both are valid interpretations.

Hi there,

Don't worry about it! I think you have received excellent advice in that the scientific method is far more important than any "established" or "accepted" results. I actually did this project in middle school (I'm a high school member of the Ask an Expert Program), so I'm really glad to hear about this. A general attention-grabbing and sufficiently serious title usually has two parts. The format looks something like this, in my opinion of the most effective titles:

Catchphrase - colon - descriptive, informative title

For example, to make this clearer, a title for your project could be something like
Food for Thought: Testing the Antimicrobial Effects of Various Curry Spices

Hope this helps!

Hi, smurf. We noticed you posted the same question and were receiving responses in both the 6-8 grade and 9-12 grade Life, Earth, and Social Sciences forums. Please only post one thread per topic. This helps you and our mentors have the best conversation possible based on what has already been discussed. We have merged the two threads together.

You have received great advice from our mentors. We hope you are able to move forward with your project. Be sure to write back if you are still having problems. Thanks for using Science Buddies, and good luck with your project!