Over the last couple of weeks, both classes have been learning about microorganisms and have conducted an experiment.
For this, we swabbed various areas and cultured on agar plates. Areas included under chairs, the bin, door handle, Miss. Whipps’ keyboard, door handles, etc.
The children identified the independent, dependent and controlled variables and then had to hypothesise. We also constructed a null hypothesis, whereby stating there would be no statistical relationship between the variables.
We talked about the importance of maintaining a sterile environment when dealing with the samples, as well as disposing of the plates when the experiment has ceased.
We will be spending time writing up our findings, evaluating the effectiveness of the method and seeing if any unintentional bias was introduced. Interestingly, the swab taken under a child’s chair is yielding the largest number of colonies so far, although this might change!
