Romel Turner

Unit 5 Lab 1

SC2730 Arceo

Introduction
My group did an experiment on four different areas around the school that we thought would have high
bacteria growth areas. We swabbed four different areas and documented our findings.
Materials
Two TSA plates
Four sterile swabs
Sharpie marker
Gloves
Method
1. Gather supplies
2. Identify what areas are going to be swabbed and who is going to do the swabbing.
3. Mark four quadrants on TSA plates
Mens urinal in the bathroom
Vending machine button
Under the table by the library/computer lab
Microwave handle
4. Each location was swabbed
5. Placed each swab into designated area on TSA plate
6. Placed in incubator
7. Left in incubator for one week
Results
The vending machine had minimal growth after a week; however, the urinal had the most growth. Under
the table by the library/computer lab has barely anything and the microwave handle had a small amount.
Growth in size from largest to smallest would be the urinal, microwave handle, table, and vending
machine. All areas had some sort of growth.
Discussion
The places my group chose to swab, I expected to see more growth on the vending machine button or
under the table other than the urinal. I had suggested that we swab under the table. The amount of growth
on the urinal did not surprise me; its very common that the bathrooms arent very clean even if it looks
that clean. To my knowledge, our group did not leave the lid off for an extended period of time where the
results would have been altered.
Conclusion
I believe my group did very well at choosing places around the school that were thought to have bacteria
growth. There is nothing I wouldve done differently. I am pleased with our results and relieved to find
out that over half of the places swabbed had minimal bacteria growth.