Why we refrigerate: Temperature-dependent bacterial growth.

Today in class we began an experiment to explore bacterial diversity, and assess the influence of temperature on bacterial growth.  Students were give cotton swabs and petri dishes, and asked to make bacterial swabs in much the same way as a doctor tests for strep throat.  Students chose a location to test, and made two samples from the one location.  One of the samples was placed in a refrigerator, and the other in a warmer incubator.  On Monday, students will quantify bacterial growth, and pool data to make graphs to answer the question "Does temperature influence bacterial growth?"  Students will also get to see the diversity of growth forms and the broad environments bacteria inhabit.