JILLIAN GIORDANO
Does gargling reduce mouth
bacteria?
!
The purpose of my
experiment is to find out if
mouthwash reduces
bacteria in the mouth. My
hypothesis is that; If I were
to test a mouthwash such
as Listerine it will not kill
much bacteria.
!
To c o n d u c t m y
experiment I will need
these materials: 1.) 10
blood agar plates 2.) Two
glass beakers 3.) Q-tips
4.) Listerine.
!
The procedure in
doing this is 1.) Swab
mouth/throat 2.) streak on
blood agar plates 3.) Make
dilution 4.) Let it grow in
37 C overnight 5.) Count
the bacteria colonies.
!
My independent
variable
in
my
experiment is my spit.
The dependent variable
is the number of bacteria
in my spit. My controlled
variable is that I plate
100 ul of each dilution on
each plate, and that all of
the plates get incubated
at 37 degrees C, and no
mouthwash.
!
The results of my
experiment is that
gargling for 15 seconds
doesnʼt make significant
changes after making
dilutions and counting
the colonies.
!
Last but not least
my conclusion, The
data did not support my
hypothesis. There were
no
significant
differences in the
colony counts between
the mouthwash and no
mouthwash control.
Therefor, gargling with
mouthwash did not
significantly change the
number of bacteria in
the subjects mouth.