Petri Dish Bacterial Growth Lab Activity

Name: _____________________________
Class: _____________________________
Date: _____________________________
Epidemic!

HS-LS1-3 / MS-LS1-5

Bacteria Growth Lab

It Came From The Boys Bathroom!
(or, How I Learned to Grow and Love Bacteria)

Introduction: Our goal during this lab is to see where bacteria are growing all around us here in
school. This lab will take at least one week. We will first sample different places in the school
for microscopic life particularly bacteria, and then give them good conditions for growing.
Every day we will observe and record the progress of the bacterial growth. At the conclusion of
this lab we will report on the number, size, and exponential growth of bacteria.

Pre-Lab Activity:
Group work: What are some of the places you will go to find bacteria? Work on the table
alone for 3 minutes. Then, when your teacher tells you, circle the places you and your group
members agree on!

CLEAN

DIRTY

(I dont think there are any bacteria here.)

(This place is crawling with bacteria!)

Hypothesis:
You must decide where to find bacteria in the school. What is your hypothesis?
lots of
My hypothesis: I think we will find
bathroom
in the.

no

sink
bacteria on the

some

doorknob
toilet seat
keyboard

classroom
gym

Now, rank four locations you thought of from dirtiest to cleanest. These are the locations you
will collect bacteria from to compare.

_________________ >
dirtiest

_________________ > _________________ > _________________

very dirty

somewhat dirty

least dirty

Materials:
Fill in the names of materials using the NOUNS from the box at right:

Nouns:
Lid
Agar
Petri Dish
Swab

What are some of the conditions on the Petri dish and where we are putting it that will help the
bacteria grow?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

Describing Bacteria
Word

Part of
Speech

In My Language

Meaning

Colony

Culture

Edges (also called margin)

Words to describe the colony:

Slimy

Grainy

Smooth

Dry

Rough

Wet

Name:

Class:

Measuring Your Bacteria:

Yesterday we put the bacteria in the incubator and they have been busy growing and
reproducing. Lets draw, measure, and describe what the Petri dishes look like. We will
describe and measure the growth of colonies on your plate how many different kinds and how much
bacteria within them.

Todays Date: _____________________ # of days bacteria have been growing: _______

Location: _______________________________

Drawing:

Qualitative:

How many different types of bacteria colonies do you see? _____________________

Qualitatively describe at least 2 types:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Quantitative: How much bacteria is on your plate?

Total bacteria area:

. How many squares have a colony in them?
________________
# of squares w/ bacteria

x
x

________________ = _______ mm2

Square area (36 mm2)

Sampled colonies 2 biggest and 2 smallest. Mark them (#1, #2, #3, #4 on the drawing above)

Colony #
Diameter (mm)

The Next Day:

Weve been away all weekend, and the bacteria have been busily growing. Lets draw, measure, and
describe what the Petri dishes look like. You must follow the growth of at least three colonies on your
plate that means you must measure its size everyday.

Todays Date: _____________________ # of days bacteria have been growing: _______

Location: _______________________________
Quantitative observations:

Colony #

Drawing:

Diameter (mm)

Qualitative observations:
__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

Location: _______________________________
Quantitative observations:

Colony #

Drawing:

Diameter (mm)

Qualitative observations:
__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________
Location: _______________________________
Quantitative observations:

Colony #

Drawing:

Diameter (mm)

Qualitative observations:
__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

Todays Date: ____________________ # of days bacteria have been growing: _______

Location: _______________________________
Quantitative observations:
Colony #

Drawing:
Diameter (mm)

Qualitative observations:
__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

Location: _______________________________

Quantitative observations:

Colony #

Drawing:

Diameter (mm)

Qualitative observations:
__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

Colony #
Diameter (mm)
Location: _______________________________
Drawing:

Quantitative observations:

Qualitative observations:
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________

Todays Date: ____________________ # of days bacteria have been growing: _______

Location: _______________________________
Quantitative observations:

Drawing:

Qualitative observations:
__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

Location: _______________________________
Quantitative observations:

Qualitative observations:
__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________
Location: _______________________________

Drawing:

Quantitative observations:

Colony #

Drawing:

Diameter (mm)

Qualitative observations:
__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

Todays Date: _____________________ # of days bacteria have been growing: _______

Location: _______________________________
Quantitative observations:
Colony #

Drawing:
Diameter (mm)

Qualitative observations:
__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________
Location: _______________________________
Quantitative observations:

Colony #

Drawing:

Diameter (mm)

Qualitative observations:
__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________
Location: _______________________________

Quantitative observations:

Colony #

Drawing:

Diameter (mm)

Qualitative observations:
__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

Name:_______________________

Class: ___________________

Date: __________

Bacteria Growth Lab Results

Now that we have followed bacteria growth for almost a week, lets put our data together. For the
three colonies you observed, complete the following tables.

Location Sampled: ___________________________________, Colony # ________

Day
(for example,
Day 2)

Diameter
(mm)

Draw the colony

Qualitative Observations

(Actual Size)

Location Sampled: ___________________________________, Colony # ________

Day
(for example,
Day 2)

Diameter
(mm)

Draw the colony

(Actual Size)

Qualitative Observations

Location Sampled: ___________________________________, Colony # ________

Day
(for example,
Day 2)

Diameter
(mm)

Draw the colony

Qualitative Observations

(Actual Size)

Observation Summary:
In this space, write several words or sentences about how the bacterial colonies looked or

changed over time. Some other things you can talk about are:

Which location had the most/least bacteria?

What was a specific observation that was surprising or unexpected?
Similarities or differences between locations.
How were the results affected by a problem with this experiment or its controls?

Graphical Representation:
Graph your results on a piece of graph paper. You must include:
Labeled axes
Correct scales on each axis
Legend explaining what each line is.
A different color for each colony.
Making the Graph
Title: Size of bacteria colonies from three locations in Flushing International High School

Size of
colony
(mm)

Legend: Draw the color you used for each line, and write what it is for:
Conclusion:

1) Take a look at your original hypothesis. Rewrite your hypothesis here:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

Was your hypothesis supported? Explain why or why not.

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

2) Describe what happened to your bacteria colonies during the week we observed them by
finishing the sentence below. Write more if you need to!

The number of bacteria increased / decreased (circle one). I know this because
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

4) Look at the different results on your groups Petri dishes. What were some of the similarities
and differences between the bacteria you collected at the different locations?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

3) How do bacteria increase so rapidly (hint how do living things make more living things)?

5) Why did Ms. Abma leave one Petri dish unopened?

Extra credit:

Create an informational poster for your classmates. Present the results from this experiment
(pictures, drawings, and descriptions) so we can put it up where you found your bacteria. The
poster should have:

Location where you found the bacteria

What the colony looked like after 1 week
Things people can do to avoid contact or infection from these bacteria.

Name:_______________________

Class: ___________________

Date: __________

Bacteria Growth Lab Write-Up

At the end of any experiment, scientists need to publish their results. Published work lets others
see and benefit from the results of the experiment. Just follow the format below:

1st paragraph: Explain why you are doing the experiment (Problem) and what you predict will
happen (Hypothesis)

2nd paragraph: Explain what steps you did (Methods)

3rd paragraph: What did you find out (Observations or Results). (This is a good place to mention
pictures

4th paragraph: What your results mean (Conclusion). You should mention whether your

hypothesis is correct and your reason for saying so. This is also where scientists reflect:

How will these results help people?

What are new questions they have because of this experiment?
What would they do differently if they had to do the experiment again?

Math component:

Imagine humans reproduced like bacteria.

a) How many brothers, sisters, and children would you have in just a week?
b) What would be some of the problems with this?