RESULTS
I collected my data by taking the pictures shown below. The first set of images was after 48 hours and the second set was after 96. After collecting my data, I put the petri dishes in order from least amount of bacteria to most. The following video shows you the bacteria up close.

Here are some of my conclusions:
*I thought the cat's mouth would be the overall cleanest, but the human mouth was.
*Over all, the cat was the cleanest organism.
*The petri dishes smelled really bad after the bacteria formed.
*The human hand hand grew mold in the petri dish.

BACTERIA ANIMOTO

BACTERIA RESEARCH


Bacteria Facts
Bacteria is a large group of microorganisms. Bacteria can live as long as it has a HOST! Some will even grow acidic hot springs and radioactive waste. There are about 5 nonillion bacteria on the earth. That makes up most of the biomass on earth. The study of bacteria is bacteriology. Bacteria was first observed by Antanie Van Leeurennoek.

Helpful Bacteria
There are bacteria that live in the intestines that help us digest and destroy harmful organisms. Some bacteria can help make cheese and yogurt. We host 2-5 pounds of bacteria in our life.

Harmful Bacteria
Harmful bacteria can enter the body by openings like the mouth and nose or breaks in the skin. Some bacteria living in the throat can reproduce faster than the body can fight it off, giving you a sore throat.

Protecting Against Harmful Bacteria
You can protect yourself from most bacteria on your hands by washing them.

Sources
Schlessinger, David. "Bacteria." The World Book Encyclopedia. 1986

Wikipedia contributors. "Bacteria." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 23 Jan. 2010. Web. 24 Jan. 2010.

EXPERIMENT


1/13/10
We bought our materials today.
6 petri dishes
6 long cotton swabs
distilled water
2 nutrient agar packets
gloves



1/14/10
We poured 300 ml of distilled water and two agar packets into a pan to boil and stirred continuously. After dissolving, we poured 30 ml of the solution in each petri dish. We then let it sit for 8 hours so it will harden. Here is a picture of a prepared petri dish:


We then started the experiment. I took off one glove for my mom to swab my hand and gently wiped it on the petri dish. She also swabbed my mouth and did the same. Then I swabbed the cat's paw and mouth. It was easier than I thought. The dog was the hard one.


I took my samples home and put them in a homemade incubator. I poked small holes in it and cut a hole in the front. I put a small digital thermometer in the box to check the temperature. I then put my box in front of a heater to keep the samples arount 97-100 degrees. I plan to check the samples every 48 hours. Here are some pictures of the incubator.



CONTROLS
When doing an experiment, controls are helpful so you know what caused the change. In my experiment, the controls were temperature, amount of agar solution, and the amount of time. This means that all the samples were kept at the same temperature, had the same amount of agar solution, and I checked each sample at 6:00 pm every 48 hours. This let me know that the amount of bacteria grown was caused by the type of sample I took (dog, cat, or human).

Which is cleaner out of a dog, cat, and human? I will judge cleanliness by the amount of bacteria present in each subject.

Hypothesis:
Mouth Cleanliness: I think the cat will have the cleanest, then the dog, then the human.

Hand or Paw Cleanliness: I think the human will have the cleanest, then the cat, then the dog.