What do these MicroOrganisms require to live ??
The 7 Characteristics !
http://sites.google.com/site/giantscience/science/biology/characteristics
What do we need to keep bacteria and fungi alive ?
Agar dishes
Agar
Agar or agar agar is a gelatinous substance derived from seaweed. Historically and in a modern context, it is chiefly used as an ingredient in desserts throughout Japan, but in the past century has found extensive use as a solid substrate to contain culture medium for microbiological work. The gelling agent is an unbranched polysaccharide obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae, primarily from the genera Gelidium and Gracilaria, or seaweed(Sphaerococcus euchema). Commercially it is derived primarily from Gelidium amansii
OB65 investigate the presence of micro-organisms in air and soil
Apparatus
Julius Richard Petri was a German bacteriologist who is generally credited with inventing the Petri dish while working as assistant to Robert Koch
Method
pre- Diagram
Safety concerns
Safety concerns
Results
Control
Soil
Water
Air
Furry growths are fungal
Coloured shiny growths are bacterial colonies
Conclusions
The ____ dish had the most Fungal colonies
The ____ dish had the most bacterial colonies.
The Control dish had no growth as it was sterile to begin with and was not exposed to any bacteria or fungi.
Extensions
If you have spare agar dishes available, you could investigate to see how infected common or shared items are. Such as
Or to do a quiz guesstimate .... http://theoatmeal.com/quiz/phone_germs/go