Biology Lab

Lab Report

Research Question:What is the effect of different types of soap on E.coli on the hand?

Introduction: E. coli stands for Escherichia coli, and refers to a group of bacteria that are commonly found in food and water. Most of these bacteria are harmless, but some can cause sickness. Those that cause disease do so by creating the Shiga toxin, which makes people sick. This toxin most commonly leads to stomach and intestinal problems, such as diarrhoea and vomiting. E.coli can come on the hand when you touch for example a dirty vegetable and not wash your hands and then accidently use place your hand in your mouth.

Hypothesis: E.coli is a type of bacteria that can be found on the human hand if the person doesn’t wash his or her hand regularly. E.coli can be removed directly once the person washes their hand with soap and water. In this experiment I am going to prove that E.coli can actually be removed from the hand but by the use of three different types of soap; Oil Soap, Medicated soap and Liquid. Each type of soap has different types of chemicals. The types of soaps that will be used will show whether they will work on removing the bacteria from the hand.

Variables Independent Variable: The Soap Dependent Variable: E.coli bacteria

Controlled:a) Kind of soap used b) Temperaturec) Amount of soap used d) The type of soap used

Uncontrolled: a) The amount of E.coli present

Apparatus: 1) 5 petri dishes 2) The three types of soap; Liquid Soap, Medicated soap, and Oil Soap. 3) Human Being 4) E.Coli the bacteria

Method: 1) One petri dish with water and E.coli only 2) Second petri dish with no water placed with E.coli 3) Third petri dish with water and oil soap placed with the E.coli4) forth petri dish with water and medicated soap placed with the E.coli5) Fifth petri dish with water and Liquid soap placed with the E.coli6) After examining what happens to the E.coli after each experiment, I can then decide the effect of the type of...