BACTERIA

It is impossible for people to identifie mold without examining it under a microscope of 400x. Most of the time, green or bluish mold is Penicillium or Aspergillus. Black mold we think is Alternaria or Cladosporium. Pale gray is Botrytis or Mucor. Redish mold we think is maybe Fusarium.

Material:

· 20 q-tips

· 5 agar plates

· 5 surfaces with germs on them

· Pens

· Tape

· Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner

· A dark cupboard or basement

Experiment:

Before doing this experiment it is very important that you wash your hands.

1. Take all your agar plates and q-tips and divide the q-tips so there are 4 q-tips for each agar plate.

2. Divide each agar plate into 4 sections. Label each section. one with “Lysol”, one with “cold water”, one with “warm water and soap”, and the last one “normal”. Example:

3. Rub 4 q-tips on each germy surface.

4. Spray one with Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner, rinse one under cold water, on another put soap and then rinse under warm water, then leave the 4^th one the same.

5. Now rub each of the q-tips you just washed onto it’s own section. Repeat this with all the surfaces.

6. Now take the lids and put them on the agar plates. Then tape them together tightly.

7. Put them in a dark and room temperature place that isn’t damp place and make sure you put them upside down or else the lid will get foggy because of condensation and it will drip down onto the agar plate.

8. Leave them there for 5 days. Be careful they smell disgusting!!!

9. Take them out and examine them all closely. Which product worked better?

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