Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

First time doing a science project & i think wr have messed up.
So my son tested different places around the house for bacteria. As i was helping my son put together the final parts i realized we need control and variable. Did we mess up because we really didnt test anything? We just watched bacteria grow ..

Not to worry! Most experiments aren't perfect, and even the most controlled of experiments can sometimes have errors. While an ideal control would have been to observe an untouched plate to see how much bacteria would naturally accumulate, this experiment can still have valuable results. For example, you can still compare your results to find out which areas of the house had the most bacteria. Even without a control, the different experimental groups can serve as comparisons to each other. Hopefully this helped - science is a learning experience and mistakes are normal