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How Much Bacteria Actually Lives in Instruments

Problem: Are band students cleaning their instruments properly? (Your hypothesis is not as clear as it could be, it could be more detailed. -Kalil Jordan and Austin Ulick)

Bacteria and mold have been known to be the cause of many illnesses. Bacteria can cause asthma, allergic reactions, and infections to a person. Mold and bacteria tend to grow in warm, moist, and dark areas. Many types of bacteria are microscopic and therefore unseen by the human eye. Since bacteria is microscopic, it is difficult to notice when bacteria spores start to grow. Since a musical instrument is a warm, moist, and dark area, mold and bacteria are likely to grow inside of the instrument. Band students have to play an instrument every day in school, and afterwards the instrument doesn't always get cleaned properly, or sometimes is not cleaned at all. To test if band students are at risk of illness, five types of instruments will be tested by swabbing the inside of the key holes. From there the swab samples will be tested to see if bacteria grows. Therefore this experiment can test if band students are at risk of illness from a musical instrument. (If you were feeling really try-hard you could find some more sources of common bacteria species found in instruments, if they are dangerous, and maybe common cleaning types? Only if you want to though, what you have in nice. Jon Uhlenhake) Make sure you're testing brass and woodwinds both. -Lily Holmes Also, it might be a good idea to test people in the same band, because I would suspect people in Symphonic winds would be better about cleaning their instrument than people is Symphonic Band. -Lily Holmes Are the Key holes the best place to test? That's not where most of the moisture lies in most instruments. -Emily Atchison

Are there specific types of bacteria that you would expect to find? What about the mold? Ms. Miller

Independent Variable: Part of instrument that is swabbed. (So since you are testing different instruments, wouldn't your independent variable be either the instrument type, or how often said instrument is cleaned, because it said in your procedure that you would swab behind the key holes every time? - Jon Uhlenhake)

Dependent Variable: The way bacteria forms, how it looks, and its size and shape. (Last year I did an experiment with bacteria and I suggest measuring the amount of bacteria because it will be a lot easier to make a conclusion off of a number rather than how it looks. If you have any questions about how we did that then feel free to ask? - Tia Sherman)

Hypothesis: If an instrument is not cleaned as often, then the mold and bacteria growth will be more rapid. (You said that you were measuring how bacteria forms, looks, and its size and shape, so your dependent variable would actually be how quickly the bacteria grew based on this hypothesis. But, I still think it would be easier if you measured the amount of bacteria and had your hypothesis be: If an instrument is not cleaned as often, then the bacterial growth would be significantly more than a more commonly cleaned instrument. - Tia Sherman)

What does "as often" mean? What does "cleaning" mean? Ms. Miller

Materials: (you seem to know exactly what materials you need, but where are you planing on purchasing them?- Sarah Baer) (What will the total cost be for all your materials? - allison schott) Procedure: (your procedure was precise and well detailed - allsion schott) Where are you going to get all these instruments? Do you have a list of people or are you going to use the school's? -Emily Atchison
 * 20 swab sticks (300 pkg. $5.90)
 * 20 Petri dishes (20 pk. $8.15)
 * 24 grams of Agar nutrient (25g. pk. $7.70)
 * Water (Free)
 * Masking Tape (1 pk. $3.15)
 * Black Sharpie (5 pk. $3.97)
 * 2000 mL beaker (1. $18.85)
 * Bunsen Burner (1 pk. $17.95)
 * Wire gauze 5x5in (1 pk. $1.95)
 * Ring stand with clamp (1pk. $67.60)
 * Large Ring (4 in. 1pk. $6.55)
 * 1) Collect all materials in “Materials” with correct quantities.
 * 2) Create a data table. Label the first row with “Test Subject”, and “Day 1-15”. Label each day individually. Fill in the first column with each test subject as stated below. There should be a total of twenty boxes for the test subjects.
 * 3) Swab all test subjects. Use a new swab for each test area swabbed. Test Subjects include, Clarinet A, B, C, and D; Flute A, B, C, and D; Saxophone A, B, C, and D; Trumpet A, B, C, and D; and French Horn/Mellophone A, B, C, and D. Dampen swab with water before swabbing each instrument.
 * 4) Take the beaker and add 24 grams of the agar nutrient with 1200 mL of hot water. Stir ingredients thoroughly. Bring the mixture to a boil for one minute. Make sure the mixture does not boil over. When done, the mixture should be clear with no particles floating around in the solution.
 * 5) Allow the mixture to cool for 10 to 20 minutes.
 * 6) Carefully fill the bottom half of the Petri dish with the warm agar nutrient solution. Set the lid ajar on top of the bottom half to allow moisture to escape. Allow the mixture to cool and harden for an hour.
 * 7) Repeat Step 6 for each Petri dish.
 * 8) Lift the top off of the Petri dish and lightly "draw" a squiggly line in the agar nutrient mixture with the end of the swab that came in contact with the test area.
 * 9) Place the lid completely on the Petri dish.
 * 10) Rip off a piece of the masking tape to label each Petri dish. Use the black sharpie to label.
 * 11) Repeat Steps 8-10 for each test subject. Use a new Petri dish for each test subject.
 * 12) Place the Petri dishes in a warm, dark, place.
 * 13) Observe mold daily. Document observations in data table. (You need to have a bibliography at the end of the isp. -Kalil Jordan and Austin Ulick)

Step #12. Do you have an appropriate place in mind? Ms. Miller