Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am not certain if this is where I should post my question? We are doing the project How well do disinfectants work But I'm not understanding what the abstract is? How do I formulate one with this topic? Can anyone help thanks and do you think raw chicken will work best?

Hi,

I split your message off the old topic so the experts will see you need some help.

DO NOT use raw chicken. By using raw chicken, you could potentially grow large quantities of harmful bacteria (e.g. Salmonella spp.). I suggest you take a look at Science Buddies' microbiology safety guide, here: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... fety.shtml .

Science Buddies also has information on what an abstract is and what should go in it, here: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ract.shtml .

Read these over and then let us know if you have any additional questions .

Hi,

An abstract is a brief summary describing your project and the results. It usually a short paragraph, but it's very helpful to teachers and science fair judges, and others reading your project so they will basically know what you did and what you found out. They can look at the details of the project to get more information as needed.

I agree with Melissa that raw chicken is not a good test subject for this experiment. Fruits and vegetables are a good source of non-pathogenic bacteria. If you have some chopped fresh or cooked fruit of vegetables that have been in the refrigerator for a few days, these would make a good source of bacteria to use. Frozen mixed vegetables usually have about 10,000 or more bacteria per gram, but these need to be thawed for at least 24 hours to give the frozen bacteria a chance to recover from being in the freezer. Or a kitchen sponge that has not been disinfected for a while. Just coat the surface to be tested with the "test" bacteria and let it dry for a few minutes. Do your non-disinfectant control first so you can compare before and after results.

Donna Hardy