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Introduction:

This project is elaborate research done to take steps in preventing more desecration of the ecosystem. We used complex principles such as laboratory technology and the scientific process to receive our results. We were lucky enough to use the school's own biological laboratory and their equipment to utilize skills that gave us the data that can be used in the future.

We basically took two parts, the bacillus and feathers and after much work combined them to measure which bacteria strains were the best and had the highest keratinase property. Many did well but not all did great and it was our pleasure to collect information for future references that can benefit not only in our surrounding area but also to people around that world that really do need the reducing of pollution.

Driving Question: Which bacillus strain is the best at digesting the keratin in feathers?

We discovered that the best three strains were Bacillus siamensis, Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus methylotrophicus.

These were the best based off of our formula that rated the effectiveness of the bacteria based on the size of the bacteria colony and the digested are that surrounded it. Effectiveness equals digested area subtracted by colony diameter and divided by colony diameter. This allows us to grade them not based on the size of the colony but of how well they digest the keratin from the agar.