Brief Summary Of This Project
Purpose
The purpose of this experiment is to find out how sterile a doctor’s office really is, and which dilution of bleach will kill the bacteria that grow in the office. (My purpose was not to identify the bacteria)
Hypothesis
My hypothesis of the outcome of the project is that a doctor’s office isn’t really as clean we think it is or should be. My estimated guess is that 50% bleach and 50% water will work just as well as 100% bleach and 0% water.
Apparatus
To conduct this experiment you will need:
14 blood agar plates
4 objects to swab (e.g. toys, doorknob, countertop, examination table)
1 pencil or pen
1 roll of masking tape or painters tape
5 or more sterile swabs
1 antibacterial agent (e.g. bleach) I chose bleach because it is the top recommended cleaning agent in doctor’s offices.
1 water bottle full of sterile water if you don’t have any sterile water just boil some tap water at a 100oC for 10 minutes and let it cool.
Method
Collect bacteria from each location (e.g. toys, doorknob, examination table, countertop) using one swab for each new location. First dip the swab in sterile water. Next, swab the area in a
side-to-side motion. Then, in an x-mas tree shape swab the agar plate with the same swab. Record your observations.