Bacteria Growth
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Background Paper
I am going to be studying the growth of bacteria on different surfaces. I’m going to use 3 different surfaces and then I am going to swipe each surface with a cotton swab 3 times and then swipe each cotton swab on a different petri dish. Then I am going to have one dish that I put nothing on for my control. Next I am going to place them on my table to grow, afterwards I am going to check them everyday to see the changes. Some of the surfaces I am using are cleaned every day, others aren't cleaned at all. So I think that the surfaces that are clean regularly are going to grow less bacteria than the ones that aren't.
Some possible experiments you could do involving bacteria are, using different natural substances to see which one works best to kill the bacteria, seeing how light or temperature affects the growth, or swabbing surfaces such as your hands before and after you wash them.
There are four stages of growing bacteria, the lag phase which is the time where the bacteria adapts to its new surface. During this time, there is little to no growth. Then it enters the log phase, where the bacteria begin to divide and double in number. This is when antibiotics are most effective. Afterwards, it enters the stationary phase, where the bacteria begins to decline due to lack of nutrients. Finally, it enters the death phase, as the supply of nutrients decreases and waste products increase, the rest of the living bacteria express a sharp decline.
Bacteria are microscopic organisms that can be found everywhere. There are millions of different types of bacteria, some bacterias are used to keep you healthy while others are very harmful. Some scientists estimate that you have 10 times more bacteria in your body than human cells. Some of the healthy bacteria is mainly located on your skin or digestive system. They help absorb nutrients, break food down and help stop the growth of harmful bacteria.
Bacteria that cause infections can affect different parts of your body like your skin, lungs and throat. Severe infections are most harmful to people with weak immune systems.
The most deadly bacteria to humans is Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, which is the world's leading disease with more than 1,700,000 deaths per year. About 13% of cases are most resistant to antibiotics and 6% are resistant to all treatments.
The field of science that I chose is microbiology, which is the study of microscopic life or microorganisms. This science field studies bacteria, fungi, algae and viruses. A person that works in this field is called a microbiologist, they study the organisms that cause disease and environmental damage. They study the characteristics of nonliving pathogens, like viruses and prions.
Microbiologists work in hospitals or laboratories, examining the samples collected from patients or local population. Some perform field work collecting samples from outside the laboratory. Some well educated microbiologists work in learning centers around the world.
To become a microbiologist you need communication skills, be detail oriented, problem solving skills, and good observation skills.
You must have a bachelor's degree, and to do independent reacherch you must have a PHD. The average pay is around $87,330, the pay depends on your leveal of experience, education and training.
Some possible experiments you could do involving bacteria are, using different natural substances to see which one works best to kill the bacteria, seeing how light or temperature affects the growth, or swabbing surfaces such as your hands before and after you wash them.
There are four stages of growing bacteria, the lag phase which is the time where the bacteria adapts to its new surface. During this time, there is little to no growth. Then it enters the log phase, where the bacteria begin to divide and double in number. This is when antibiotics are most effective. Afterwards, it enters the stationary phase, where the bacteria begins to decline due to lack of nutrients. Finally, it enters the death phase, as the supply of nutrients decreases and waste products increase, the rest of the living bacteria express a sharp decline.
Bacteria are microscopic organisms that can be found everywhere. There are millions of different types of bacteria, some bacterias are used to keep you healthy while others are very harmful. Some scientists estimate that you have 10 times more bacteria in your body than human cells. Some of the healthy bacteria is mainly located on your skin or digestive system. They help absorb nutrients, break food down and help stop the growth of harmful bacteria.
Bacteria that cause infections can affect different parts of your body like your skin, lungs and throat. Severe infections are most harmful to people with weak immune systems.
The most deadly bacteria to humans is Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, which is the world's leading disease with more than 1,700,000 deaths per year. About 13% of cases are most resistant to antibiotics and 6% are resistant to all treatments.
The field of science that I chose is microbiology, which is the study of microscopic life or microorganisms. This science field studies bacteria, fungi, algae and viruses. A person that works in this field is called a microbiologist, they study the organisms that cause disease and environmental damage. They study the characteristics of nonliving pathogens, like viruses and prions.
Microbiologists work in hospitals or laboratories, examining the samples collected from patients or local population. Some perform field work collecting samples from outside the laboratory. Some well educated microbiologists work in learning centers around the world.
To become a microbiologist you need communication skills, be detail oriented, problem solving skills, and good observation skills.
You must have a bachelor's degree, and to do independent reacherch you must have a PHD. The average pay is around $87,330, the pay depends on your leveal of experience, education and training.
Investigation Paper
For my Knights of Science Project I am going to be studying the growth of bacteria on different surfaces. I’m going to use 3 different surfaces and then I am going to swipe each surface with a cotton swab, 3 times and then swipe each cotton swab on a different petri dish. Then I am going to have one dish that I put nothing on for my control. Next I am going to place them on my table to grow, afterwards I am going to check them every day to see the changes.
First I lined up the petri dishes so that they would be easier to label after being swabbed. I did this so that I wouldn't swab the same dish twice with different bacteria. Next, I grabbed nine cotton swabs, this way I could test each surface three times. I did this to see if I would get the same result or if it would grow more or less bacteria than the others. Then, I dipped the tip of each swab in water for about five seconds, this allows more bacteria to be picked up, when the surface is swabbed. I used warm water because according to some sources bacteria grows better in a warm, moist environment.
Afterwards, I took my swab and swabbed the door handle for ten seconds. I tried to swab each surface for ten seconds to make sure I got an even number of bacteria on each test. Next, I swabbed the petri dish for ten seconds. Afterward I took the next two swabs and dipped them in the cup of water for five seconds each. Then, I took each swab and swabbed two sections of the door handle for ten seconds each. Then, I took the swab and I swabbed each petri dish for ten seconds.
Then I labeled each dish one, two, and three. This was to make sure I only swabbed each dish once and didn't add bacteria to a dish with a different bacteria. I tried to make sure I repeated each step for the same amount of time. This is to make sure each surface was tested evenly. Then, I took the next cotton swab and placed the tip in the cup of water.
Then I grabbed my phone and placed it on the table. I then took the cotton swab and swabbed the top of the screen. Next, I took the swab and rubbed it along the dish for ten seconds. Then, I took my second swab and placed the tip in my cup of warm water. I took the swab and rubbed it along the middle of the screen. Afterwards, I took it and swabbed the dish for ten seconds. Next, I took my third swab and placed the tip in the water. I took that and swabbed the bottom of the screen. Then I swabbed the petri dish for ten seconds. Then I took the swab and placed it in the cup of water.
Next I swabbed the countertop. I then took my swab and rubbed it on the dish. I then took the last two swabs and placed each tip in the water. Then, I swabbed the next section of the counter. I then took the swab and rubbed it on the labeled dish. Then, I swabbed the next section of the counter. I then took that swab and rubbed it on the last labeled dish. Next I took my phone and took pictures of each dish.
Finally, I placed each dish in a box to allow them to grow. This is because it will help the bacteria grow in a warm, moist and dark environment. I will let them grow in the box until the 24th of February. I will check them periodically and take pictures to document the growth. This will allow me to see the growth of bacteria over time.
First I lined up the petri dishes so that they would be easier to label after being swabbed. I did this so that I wouldn't swab the same dish twice with different bacteria. Next, I grabbed nine cotton swabs, this way I could test each surface three times. I did this to see if I would get the same result or if it would grow more or less bacteria than the others. Then, I dipped the tip of each swab in water for about five seconds, this allows more bacteria to be picked up, when the surface is swabbed. I used warm water because according to some sources bacteria grows better in a warm, moist environment.
Afterwards, I took my swab and swabbed the door handle for ten seconds. I tried to swab each surface for ten seconds to make sure I got an even number of bacteria on each test. Next, I swabbed the petri dish for ten seconds. Afterward I took the next two swabs and dipped them in the cup of water for five seconds each. Then, I took each swab and swabbed two sections of the door handle for ten seconds each. Then, I took the swab and I swabbed each petri dish for ten seconds.
Then I labeled each dish one, two, and three. This was to make sure I only swabbed each dish once and didn't add bacteria to a dish with a different bacteria. I tried to make sure I repeated each step for the same amount of time. This is to make sure each surface was tested evenly. Then, I took the next cotton swab and placed the tip in the cup of water.
Then I grabbed my phone and placed it on the table. I then took the cotton swab and swabbed the top of the screen. Next, I took the swab and rubbed it along the dish for ten seconds. Then, I took my second swab and placed the tip in my cup of warm water. I took the swab and rubbed it along the middle of the screen. Afterwards, I took it and swabbed the dish for ten seconds. Next, I took my third swab and placed the tip in the water. I took that and swabbed the bottom of the screen. Then I swabbed the petri dish for ten seconds. Then I took the swab and placed it in the cup of water.
Next I swabbed the countertop. I then took my swab and rubbed it on the dish. I then took the last two swabs and placed each tip in the water. Then, I swabbed the next section of the counter. I then took the swab and rubbed it on the labeled dish. Then, I swabbed the next section of the counter. I then took that swab and rubbed it on the last labeled dish. Next I took my phone and took pictures of each dish.
Finally, I placed each dish in a box to allow them to grow. This is because it will help the bacteria grow in a warm, moist and dark environment. I will let them grow in the box until the 24th of February. I will check them periodically and take pictures to document the growth. This will allow me to see the growth of bacteria over time.
Conclusion
Some of the surfaces I am using are cleaned every day, others aren't cleaned at all. So I think that the surfaces that are clean regularly are going to grow less bacteria than the ones that aren't. The conclusion is that they all grew about the same amount of bacteria.
I think that it could be because we use the same dish rag to clean the counter for several days before it's washed. Because of this, the amount of bacteria continues to increase every time it's used, even though it's cleaned regularly with soap. The door handle I used is not cleaned as regularly, so I think that is the reason it grew so much bacteria because it is touched every time we come inside and then it doesn't get cleaned off. So then it collects all the bacteria that gathers on our hands from outside.
The reason I think that the phone screen grew so much bacteria is that it's the phone I share with my little brothers and one of my little brothers puts his hands in his mouth and then touches the screen. This takes all the bacteria from his mouth and from everything he touches and puts it on the screen.
After the bacteria began to grow, we deep cleaned each surface. For the counters I think they should be cleaned with bleach once a week and the rag should get changed every two to three days. For our door handles, we should wash our hands each time we come inside and take a disinfectant wipe and wipe each handle with a separate wipe. The phone screen should be wiped down every few days.
To minimise bacteria growth we should frequently wash our hands and keep them away from our mouth. This will help prevent the spread of germs and help keep us from getting sick. If we do get sick we should wash our hands and disinfect any surfaces we touch. This will help kill any virus germs and help prevent other people from getting sick. As well as cleaning each surface after using it, like the counter tops wiping up spills and cleaning food off the counter.
We have a small farm so washing our hands after touching and feeding them will also help limit the growth of bacteria on each surface. Doing a regular deep clean will also help kill the bacteria that gets missed even after being cleaned regularly.
I think that it could be because we use the same dish rag to clean the counter for several days before it's washed. Because of this, the amount of bacteria continues to increase every time it's used, even though it's cleaned regularly with soap. The door handle I used is not cleaned as regularly, so I think that is the reason it grew so much bacteria because it is touched every time we come inside and then it doesn't get cleaned off. So then it collects all the bacteria that gathers on our hands from outside.
The reason I think that the phone screen grew so much bacteria is that it's the phone I share with my little brothers and one of my little brothers puts his hands in his mouth and then touches the screen. This takes all the bacteria from his mouth and from everything he touches and puts it on the screen.
After the bacteria began to grow, we deep cleaned each surface. For the counters I think they should be cleaned with bleach once a week and the rag should get changed every two to three days. For our door handles, we should wash our hands each time we come inside and take a disinfectant wipe and wipe each handle with a separate wipe. The phone screen should be wiped down every few days.
To minimise bacteria growth we should frequently wash our hands and keep them away from our mouth. This will help prevent the spread of germs and help keep us from getting sick. If we do get sick we should wash our hands and disinfect any surfaces we touch. This will help kill any virus germs and help prevent other people from getting sick. As well as cleaning each surface after using it, like the counter tops wiping up spills and cleaning food off the counter.
We have a small farm so washing our hands after touching and feeding them will also help limit the growth of bacteria on each surface. Doing a regular deep clean will also help kill the bacteria that gets missed even after being cleaned regularly.
