microbiology

[deleted-330121]

I am looking for ideas for science fair board title ideas? I tested Doterra essential oils...Tea Tree worked the best vs. antibiotics ... Looking for ideas for title on my sf board. Tea Tree Treats was one I had, any others you might offer? I also thought of DoTerra MD, DoTerra Destroys, Destroying DoTerra, Detrimental DoTerra....

Any ideas welcome....

[deleted-141593]

DoTerrorizing bacteria? If you like any other ones you listed, go for it, otherwise don't worry to much about making it clever. Sometimes it's just too much pressure to make it clever without making it silly.

Cheers
Colin

[deleted-330419]

Okay, I dont know if I am doing this right because I can't find the ask a question button so I clicked this. Anyway I am in the process of doing my science fair project and I am experimenting with the affect of temperature on bacteria growth. I have started my Petri dishes by putting agar int hem and six days ago I rubbed raw chicken in them but I haven't been able to see any cononies, which I am counting, how long is it supposed to take? I would appreciate any help, thank you!

[324B21]

Hey there paigeheather! Next time just click on the red button that says: New Topic

This is totally fine for this question today though. I am so excited to hear you are experimenting with bacteria. Absolutely my favorite. Please please please be careful with this experiment to ensure you don't accidentally get yourself sick. Gloves and a mask would be ideal.

Ok, so you are missing a bit of information here that would be helpful for me to know in order to help. Are each of the dishes at a different temp right now? What are the temps you have them at? How did you get the samples onto the dishes? What part of the chicken did you use?

It is absolutely possible that you will never see growth. This is just fine, and not a cause for concern since experiments are just that...experimenting. Not all raw chicken contains salmonella (and you are most likely to find it along the digestive tract since that is where it lives) However, the fact that you are not seeing any growth on any of the dishes makes me wonder about the conditions. Even if you don't see salmonella you should be seeing a potential growth of ecoli at this point if the conditions are ideal.

Please get back to us when you have a moment so we can try to help further!! And while we are at it and learning about bacteria here is an optional question from me to you and your curious mind: can you tell me if salmonella is gram negative or positive? Can you tell me what shape salmonella takes form in (rod, spiral, round)?

Elizabeth

[deleted-330419]

So I have my bacteria at room temperature, in the freezer, and in the fridge. I used the breast of the chicken and rubbed it 5 strokes on my starial petri dishes then placed them upside down in the environments. (Three in each)My teacher helped me set it up and let me use the school's pressure cleaner and he told me I should count the colonies which I should be able to see without a microscope but I see no growth yet and I am beginning to worry if the bacteria will not grow and I need my project completed by the 13th. What do you think I should do?

[324B21]

Hey there. Thanks for getting back so quickly with this information.

So. Let me state first off again that there is NO wrong way to do an experiment (not for our purposes today at least). The quest itself is absolutely the best part of experimenting. All paths lead to amazing results! I have many MANY times had experiments that did not produce the results I thought it would. It doesn't mean I failed. Having three markedly different temperatures is perfect so you can compare. You are so on the right path here paigeheather.

What I would say is that the two most common things you would find on your dish most likely would have started visible and countable colonies at this point. However--in my last paragraph I admitted that I have been wrong a bunch of times with my guesses.

I know that both ecoli and salmonella have very fast reproduction rates. Again--your experiment was not done wrong, but several factors are in play here. First--how much bacteria was on the chicken breast you used? That in this experiment is sort of a guess, right? There is no way to really know before the experiment how much is present (other than the information I mentioned that the digestive tract is more likely to contain salmonella) Also, the temperatures. Both salmonella and ecoli LOVE warm places. Think body temperature warm. This would make sense as they are transmitted via places that are about 98.6F.

Another few things that could (but odds are aren't in play here) alter growth rates are pH, saltiness, how much sugar was in the agar plates, etc.

So. Here is what we know. Room temperature COULD provide an environment after time that would allow colonies to appear visually, but it's going to take longer. We also know as I mentioned that warm is the key here. We don't want to warm them too much though (like putting them in an oven turned on).

Here is my advice: Stay the course. Science takes time and patience. You have carefully crafted your experiment, and a billion colonies or zero, your data produced by your experiment is super important.

BTW for the bonus information salmonella is gram negative and rod shaped!

Please reach out again if you have further questions. Keep exploring--you are doing great!

Elizabeth