Swabbing for Science Fair Project

When I was in junior high, my science fair project was finding the “germiest” places in the school. As the science fair packets were distributed to the 6th graders this year, I told Ryan a little bit about my science fair project. He decided that’s what he wanted to do!

*Ahem* years ago, Aunt Dott Strand had to get petri dishes and agar from her job at a hospital lab for me to use. Now they are widely available on the Internet. Other than taking pictures, that is truly where my work ended on his project. I mention that, since so many parents do much of the project for the student.

Ryan decided the areas of the school that he wanted to swab, and then we went around the school swabbing. I held the petri dishes in a big box while he swabbed three different petri dishes for every area (in order to get a more reliable sample).



We had a lot of fun! Now we’ll just need to put up with the smell while the cultures grow. (I’d make a comment about the smell of a pre-teen boy here, but why do you think I keep him swimming every day?) :)