In lab today, Sept. 3, we basically just reviewed the things we did on Tuesday: gram-staining, plate streaking, and asepsis technique; to begin getting ready for our test out in a week or two.
After we finished our gram-stains today, we used microscopes to look at our bacteria.
If you weren't sure how to use a microscope don't feel bad because a lot of us, including me :) , had to have a lot of help with that today. Once we found our bacteria under the microscope we had a few questions to anser.
First of all was the bacteria:
Gram-Positive? (purple) OR Gram-Negative? (pinkish-red)
After we determined that we looked for the shape of our bacteria.
Some bacteria are more round like ball-shaped, while others are more tube-like, or cylindrical shaped.
If the bacteria was round you then determine if the bacteria are in clumps, such as grapes, or in strings like a necklace.
All of the answers to these questions help determine which type of bacteria it is.
I did M. Liteus:
My sample proved to be gram-positive (purple)
Round - and clumped together such as grapes.
Have fun in lab! :)
Wendy Hofmeyer
