Sydney’s Corner: I Grew Germs

I grew germs. You can find germs everywhere. You cannot see germs without a microscope. But, I will tell you how to grow germs so that you can see them with your eyes.

First

• Boil water and put in a spoonful of sugar and gelatin. Stir the gelatin and sugar until it is melted.
• Put boiling water in petri dishes.
• Put the petri dishes in the refrigerator.
• Wait until the next day so the gelatin can get hard.
• Swab the places you want than rub the swab on the petri dishes.  I swabbed the toilet, sink, shower, my mom’s mouth and my nose.
• Cover the petri dishes with something.
• Wait about a week and you can see the germs.

This is what you need to grow germs:

• Mouth
• Nose
• Toilet
• Shower
• Sink
• A control petri dish
• Boiling water
• Unflavored gelatin
• Sugar
• Petri dishes
• Plastic wrap
• A warm place

I did not swab the control.  A control tells me that I grew germs from the stuff I swabbed and not from the cup or gelatin.  I thought that the toilet, sink and shower would grow the most germs, because those are the grossest. The toilet grew the most germs.  If you want a lot of germs then swab the toilet.

Swabbing Mouth

Swabbing Nose

Nose Germs

Germ Experiment

This is what the germs looked like after one week:

The toilet germs were green and black.  There were a lot of them

Toilet Germs

The mouth germs were fuzzy with green spots in the middle.

Mouth Germs

The shower germs were mostly liquid with green spots.

Shower Germs

The nose germs were big fuzzy and white.

Nose Germs

The sink germs were mostly liquid with white spots.

Sink Germs

The control grew nothing.

Control

Now you know how to grow icky germs.

About Sydney

I am from Portland, Oregon and I love animals. I also enjoy reading and Pokemon.