Microbiology Name: ___________

Homework ____/20

1BACTERIAL MATH ACTIVITY

On Thursday night you are up late studying for your microbiology exam the next day (even
though you know that cramming the night before is NOT the correct way to study for this class).
Your lab partner stops by and the two of you decide to order a pepperoni pizza. By 1 A.M. you
are exhausted. One piece of the pizza is left but you are too tired to wrap it up and put it in the
refrigerator, so you leave it in the box on your desk and go to bed. While closing the lid of the
box you sneeze and deposit 1000 Staphylococcus aureus cells onto the pizza. At room
temperature this organism has a generation time of 30 minutes.

In the morning you wake up, still exhausted, and realize you already late for your 8:30 A.M.
class. Too late to get breakfast, you grab the left over pizza and rush to class.

1. How many Staphylococcus aureus cells are on the piece of pizza you ate in the morning?
(5)
Time Approximate number of bacteria
2am, 4,000
3am 16,000
4am 64,000
5am 256,000
6am 1,024,000
7am 4,096,000
8am 16,384,000
9am 65,536,000

2. Draw a growth curve, labeling lag phase, exponential phase, stationary phase, and death
phase. (5) Assume that maximum growth occurred at 9 AM.

Chart Title
70000000

60000000

50000000

40000000

30000000

20000000

10000000

0
Category 1 Category 4

LAG PHASE EXPONENTIAL PHASE DEATH PHASE

 3. Fill in the following chart to organize your knowledge of the Growth curve. (5)
Stage of growth curve What’s happening? Growth speed Live/dead cell ratio
(fast/slow/level)

1. Cells are adjusting to Slow Most cells live

new environment

2. Cells reproducing at slow Live cells

maximum rate

3. Waste begins to Level Equal number of cells

accumulate live

4. Toxins building up Fast Cells die

Should you expect to feel sick later in the day? If so, what symptoms would you have? (Use
internet or library reference book to determine these.) (5pts) (1 source minimum!)

Carriers are people who have the bacteria but do not have any symptoms caused by the bacteria.
Carriers can move the bacteria from their nose to other body parts with their hands, sometimes
leading to infection. People who are hospitalized or work in a hospital are more likely to be
carriers.