Germ Theory - Growing Bacteria Experiments

In the 1670's Leeuwenhoek invented the microscope and first saw what we
now know as bacteria (he called what he saw "little animals"). It took over
200 years for mankind to connect those little animals to disease and even then
it wasn't well accepted. Lister was fired over and over. Louis Pasteur, the
Father of the Germ Theory, was challenged to a duel for daring to say that
doctors were causing the deaths of their patients because they were the bearers
of germs.

Our 6th grade Science class is studying the Romantic Period of time this
year and that includes the time period of Pasteur, Koch, Lister, Jenner and
more. So this week we started growing our own collection of bacterias from
around the school. I started the week off by making Petri Dishes of culture with Agar at home (and keeping them in the refrigerator nice and safe until needed).
The students who were present came up with ideas of where to swab. I gloved them and gave them swabs and off they went. We swabbed the microwave, the boy's bathroom, a dollar bill, the bottom of a backpack, a lightswitch, a doorknob,
a rather nasty looking cat scratch, the hymnals in the sanctuary, the piano
keys in the sanctuary, and a few other places that will probably come to me
later. I'll give you an update after Wednesday on how well the bacteria grew.
As you can tell from the photos the students were serious enough about what they
were doing. I think we're going to get a lot out of this unit of study..
Chris