Bacteria Everywhere!

by Loretta Spangler
http://homeschoolblogger.com/amnbooks

Background:
An incredible diversity of microscopic organisms exists all around us! The great majority of these
organisms belong to Kingdom Prokaryotae (formerly Kingdom Monera), and are commonly known as
bacteria. Capable of surviving in a wide range of environments, some members of Kingdom
Prokaryotae have been found in high-temperature, deep sea hydrothermal vents where they use
sulfur compounds to produce energy. Other members have been found living on dust particles
floating six kilometers above the surface of the earth. And some organisms from Kingdom
Prokaryotae have even been found growing in the radioactive cooling pools where fuel cans from
nuclear reactors are stored.

Bacteria are an integral part of nature and of our everyday lives. Although many people equate
bacteria only with harmful, disease causing organisms, the truth is that there are many more useful
bacteria than harmful ones. Without bacteria, we would not have cheese, yogurt, or pickles; our
digestive systems would not work properly; and we would eventually wonder what to do about
growing mounds of dead organisms, since without bacteria, they would not decompose.

Although bacteria are microscopic, they grow so rapidly that, given proper conditions, it is easy to
see an increase in the bacterial population in a relatively short period of time. In this lab, you will
collect samples of bacteria from several locations in the building and culture them on a solid growth
medium in a Petri dish.

Pre-lab Questions:
1. Where do you think you will find the highest amount of bacteria?

2. What do you think the Petri dish will look like in three to four days?

Materials: (per student)

• 1 Petri dish with nutrient agar
• 1 sterile cotton swab
• permanent marker

Procedure:
1. Determine your sample location.
2. Without removing the lid from the Petri dish, write your initials, date, and sample location
along the edge of the lid.
3. Go to your sample location, and carefully open your sterile cotton swab. Gently wipe the end
of the swab over the area from which you wish to collect bacteria. Do not let the end touch
anything else.
4. Return to the lab area and carefully open your Petri dish (like Pac Man). Quickly and
carefully rub your cotton swab in a single Z-shaped pattern across the surface of the
culture medium. Be careful not to poke a hole in the medium.
 2

5. Tape the dish shut and place it upside down on the tray provided by your teacher. Draw
what your plate looks like in Figure 1.
6. Your teacher will incubate the plates for two to four days (depending upon growth rate)
and then refrigerate them to halt growth until next week’s lab session.
7. Draw what your plate looks like after incubation in Figure 2.
8. Count the colonies, and record your results, as well as those of your classmates in the table
below.

Data:

Figure 1 Figure 2
Table 1 – Number of Colonies on Petri Dish
Sample Location Number of Colonies

Analysis and Conclusion:

1. How many clusters of bacteria appear to be growing in each Petri dish?

2. Which Petri dish (location) had the most growth? Which Petri dish (location) had the least
growth?

3. Why was the agar sterilized before this investigation?

4. What kind of environmental conditions seem to influence where bacteria are found?

5. How can you control the amount of bacteria that you will encounter?