BIO250 Lab 1- Intro Lab - Lab 1-Microbiology, Straighterline
"Lab 1 Introduction to Science BIO250L
Student Name:
Access Code (located on the lid of your lab kit):
Lab Report Format Expectations
Utilize college level grammar and professional formatÝng when completing this worksheet.
Submissions without proper formatÝng, all required photos or sufÏcient responses will be rejected.
Pre-lab Questions
1. In this course, you will utilize several types of growth media to observe the nature of
microorganisms. How can you protect yourself from any microorganisms that you may work
with in the upcoming labs?
There are many things I can do to protect myself from microorganisms used during this
and upcoming experiments that were covered during the pre-lab and also make common sense.
Safety procedures such as disinfecting any microorganism plates and contaminated wastes 20
minutes in bleach or another suitable solution prior to disposing in a separately sealed trash
bag. Using safety goggles, gloves, and other common sense safety precautions such as not
eating or drinking during experiments. Wearing proper personal protective equipment and
proper disposal techniques I believe are key to avoiding microbial harm from these experiments
as well as treating all microbes as potentially dangerous pathogens.
2. What constitutes personal protective equipment? When should personal protective equipment
be worn?
Personal protective equipment is anything worn to protect oneself from harm during
laboratory procedures. It should be worn at the appropriate level for the danger present by the
work environment. PPE should always be worn when contaminants are airborne or can be
transferred through touch. These include gloves, goggles, face masks, gowns and aprons, and
many more depending on the nature of the microbes worked with. PPE is important to wear for
personal safety from microorganisms and chemicals.
3. What is meant by “BioSafety Levels”? Why do researchers utilize these when working with
microorganisms? What level of biological containment (which BSL) will be necessary to
complete the experiments in this course?
Biosafety Levels, or BSLs, are useful to rank the safety level needed with the
microorganism being studied. This gives an indication of how dangerous the microorganism is
and what type of personal protective equipment and safety precautions should be used. The
lowest level is level 1 (the highest is four) and only level one will be used during this course.
1/17
,BIO250 Lab 1- Intro Lab - Lab 1-Microbiology, Straighterline
4. What document should you refer to if you have questions regarding the safety or disposal of a
chemical? Where can this document be located?
If you have any type of question regarding the safety or disposal of a chemical, you should refer to the Material
Safety Data Sheet, known as the MSDS, or Safety Data Sheet, which is refered to as the SDS for that chemical. These
documents can typically be located in a chemical inventory database maintained by the laboratory, workplace, or
even the college/university themselves
Additionally, they may be available through chemical suppliers or online databases and websites
2/17
, BIO250 Lab 1- Intro Lab - Lab 1-Microbiology, Straighterline
“EXERCISE 1: DATA INTERPRETATION
1. What is the overall goal of this exercise? What learning outcomes is it trying to convey to you as
a science student?
The overall goal of this experiment is to teach me, the science student, the basic
scientific process of testing a hypothesis known as the scientific method. This includes forming a
hypothesis from an observation, formulating an experiment to test that hypothesis, analyzing
those results, and drawing conclusions. In this specific case it is regarding the effects of pH on
the number of bacterial colonies grown.
2. What patterns do you observe based on the information in Table 4?
There is a clear pattern of increasing colony numbers as the acidity decreases (pH
increasing) from 0-7 until it peaks at a pH of 7, a neutral pH. Then there is a sharp decrease in
colony numbers as the pH rises and becomes more basic. This data follows a unimodal pattern,
peaking at the neutral pH of 7.
3. Describe the hypothesis the researcher may have used in the experiment that provided the data
in Table 4. Format your response as an IF/THEN statement that describes what you will do, and
the outcome you expect to see.
If bacterial growth is affected by pH, then the same bacteria grown at different pH levels
will show different growth rates with the highest growth rate at a neutral pH and growth rates
falling as pH moves away from neutral. Compared to a neutral pH, if the pH is increased or
decreased then bacterial colony growth will decrease.
4. Describe a possible experimental setup that could have provided the data in Table 4.
The researcher could have created agar mediums that were formulated to be at specific
pH levels from 0 - 10. The same bacteria is inoculated on each plate and then allowed to
incubate and grow for the same time period. The colonies would then be counted at the same
time to determine the overall colony count on each plate. I would have also had a positive
control with another known bacteria such as yeast and a negative control plate swabbed with
just deionized water.
5. For the experiment you described above, what would be the independent and dependent
variables?
The independent variable is the pH of the media the culture is grown on and the
dependent variable is the number of colonies grown.
3/17
"Lab 1 Introduction to Science BIO250L
Student Name:
Access Code (located on the lid of your lab kit):
Lab Report Format Expectations
Utilize college level grammar and professional formatÝng when completing this worksheet.
Submissions without proper formatÝng, all required photos or sufÏcient responses will be rejected.
Pre-lab Questions
1. In this course, you will utilize several types of growth media to observe the nature of
microorganisms. How can you protect yourself from any microorganisms that you may work
with in the upcoming labs?
There are many things I can do to protect myself from microorganisms used during this
and upcoming experiments that were covered during the pre-lab and also make common sense.
Safety procedures such as disinfecting any microorganism plates and contaminated wastes 20
minutes in bleach or another suitable solution prior to disposing in a separately sealed trash
bag. Using safety goggles, gloves, and other common sense safety precautions such as not
eating or drinking during experiments. Wearing proper personal protective equipment and
proper disposal techniques I believe are key to avoiding microbial harm from these experiments
as well as treating all microbes as potentially dangerous pathogens.
2. What constitutes personal protective equipment? When should personal protective equipment
be worn?
Personal protective equipment is anything worn to protect oneself from harm during
laboratory procedures. It should be worn at the appropriate level for the danger present by the
work environment. PPE should always be worn when contaminants are airborne or can be
transferred through touch. These include gloves, goggles, face masks, gowns and aprons, and
many more depending on the nature of the microbes worked with. PPE is important to wear for
personal safety from microorganisms and chemicals.
3. What is meant by “BioSafety Levels”? Why do researchers utilize these when working with
microorganisms? What level of biological containment (which BSL) will be necessary to
complete the experiments in this course?
Biosafety Levels, or BSLs, are useful to rank the safety level needed with the
microorganism being studied. This gives an indication of how dangerous the microorganism is
and what type of personal protective equipment and safety precautions should be used. The
lowest level is level 1 (the highest is four) and only level one will be used during this course.
1/17
,BIO250 Lab 1- Intro Lab - Lab 1-Microbiology, Straighterline
4. What document should you refer to if you have questions regarding the safety or disposal of a
chemical? Where can this document be located?
If you have any type of question regarding the safety or disposal of a chemical, you should refer to the Material
Safety Data Sheet, known as the MSDS, or Safety Data Sheet, which is refered to as the SDS for that chemical. These
documents can typically be located in a chemical inventory database maintained by the laboratory, workplace, or
even the college/university themselves
Additionally, they may be available through chemical suppliers or online databases and websites
2/17
, BIO250 Lab 1- Intro Lab - Lab 1-Microbiology, Straighterline
“EXERCISE 1: DATA INTERPRETATION
1. What is the overall goal of this exercise? What learning outcomes is it trying to convey to you as
a science student?
The overall goal of this experiment is to teach me, the science student, the basic
scientific process of testing a hypothesis known as the scientific method. This includes forming a
hypothesis from an observation, formulating an experiment to test that hypothesis, analyzing
those results, and drawing conclusions. In this specific case it is regarding the effects of pH on
the number of bacterial colonies grown.
2. What patterns do you observe based on the information in Table 4?
There is a clear pattern of increasing colony numbers as the acidity decreases (pH
increasing) from 0-7 until it peaks at a pH of 7, a neutral pH. Then there is a sharp decrease in
colony numbers as the pH rises and becomes more basic. This data follows a unimodal pattern,
peaking at the neutral pH of 7.
3. Describe the hypothesis the researcher may have used in the experiment that provided the data
in Table 4. Format your response as an IF/THEN statement that describes what you will do, and
the outcome you expect to see.
If bacterial growth is affected by pH, then the same bacteria grown at different pH levels
will show different growth rates with the highest growth rate at a neutral pH and growth rates
falling as pH moves away from neutral. Compared to a neutral pH, if the pH is increased or
decreased then bacterial colony growth will decrease.
4. Describe a possible experimental setup that could have provided the data in Table 4.
The researcher could have created agar mediums that were formulated to be at specific
pH levels from 0 - 10. The same bacteria is inoculated on each plate and then allowed to
incubate and grow for the same time period. The colonies would then be counted at the same
time to determine the overall colony count on each plate. I would have also had a positive
control with another known bacteria such as yeast and a negative control plate swabbed with
just deionized water.
5. For the experiment you described above, what would be the independent and dependent
variables?
The independent variable is the pH of the media the culture is grown on and the
dependent variable is the number of colonies grown.
3/17
