Bacterial Growth - Experiment #1

For our first Bacterial Growth Experiment, our class decided to test out which objects/places contained the most bacteria. Once we received our Agar Plate, we had to divide it into 4 quadrants, each which would soon represent 4 separate swabs of bacteria from different places. Now with everything set up we were now able to swab some bacteria! With the use of a Q-tip my partner and I (Cathy) swabbed 4 things and put them into one of our quadrants;

• Quadrant 1: Combination Lock
• Quadrant 2: Main Stairway Railing
• Quadrant 3: Typical Ipod Screen
• Quadrant 4: A Basketball

Now here is what happened to our bacteria after a couple of days in the Incubator:

                                      Front View

                                      Back View

Can you tell the difference between the bacteria in the quadrants? I sure can't! My hypothesis for the reason of being able to see only 1 type of bacteria is that the bacteria is probably very common around the school or maybe 1 quadrant of bacteria took over the other 3! Realizing this now, in the future I plan on separating the bacteria swabs in separate Agar Plates if possible.