Young and Old Germs

Who Has More Germs?

Little Kids Or Teenagers

By Jenna Ziemba

Question

Do little kids have more germs than teenagers.

Hypothesis:

I think teens will have more bacteria because teens uses and share a lot of things and some little kids wash their hands for snack and lunch.

Procedure:

• 1. Obtain 16 petri dishes with nutrient agar, swabs, and distilled water.

  2. Ask a few people if you can swab their hands after they eat their lunch (THEY CAN’T WASH THEIR HANDS AFTER LUNCH).

  3. Before you swab their hands, dip a swab into distilled water.

  4. Swab both hands.

  5. After you swab the hands, take the swab and wipe it on the petri dish.

  6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 twice for each person, but with a 3 day difference.

  7. Petri dishes will be incubated in the lab for a few days.

  8. After incubation, count the bacteria colonies on each dish.

     1. • • • • 1. Data Tables:

Abstract:

I wondered if little kids have more or less germs than teenagers. My mom is a preschool teacher and I’ve seen the classroom and all the experiments and activities, that the kids do. Somehow it had me thinking, do preschoolers have more germs than teenagers? I think teenagers will have more germs because teens use and share a lot of things. Even some little kids wash their hand for snack and lunch.

The first step is to obtain about 30 petri dishes with nutrients agar, swabs, and distilled water. Then I ask a few people, if I could swab after they eat their lunch, (They can’t wash their hands after lunch!) Before you swab their hands dip, a swab into distilled water. Then swab both hands, of each person. After you swab their hands, take the swab and wipe it on the petri dish. Do steps 2 through 5, twice for each person, but with a 3 day differents. I made sure I put the petri dishes in an incubator for a few days. Finally a few days later, count the bacteria colonies, on a graph paper.

I had done many test on many people. I tested 4 sevenths graders and 4 preschoolers .The teenagers had an avg. of 18cm2 and 19cm2 The preschoolers had a avg. of 24.5cm2 and 44cm2. Overall the preschoolers had a high avg. then the teenagers. The control had only a average of 11.25cm2.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the preschoolers had more germs than the teenagers. In my experiment I found out, that most little kids have more germs than 13 and 12 year olds. Sadly my hypothesis was incorrect. I had predicted that teenagers were going to have more germs than preschoolers. My project had its ups and downs. And, not all my data and calculations are persecuted. But my project did teach me something. That something is that most of the time the preschoolers, have more germs than middle schoolers. What, I would do differently to this project is, by testing more kids and waiting longer. I would also test each person 1 more time, to make sure my data is reliable. All and all my project had reliable data and showed that little kids have more germs than teenagers.

Graphs: