Mr. Killeen's Bacteria Web Quest

Introduction

This Web Quest is designed to assist students learning of how scientists identify bacteria colonies using colony morphology characteristics, along with the use of selective and differential growth media. Students will click on the various links provided on the Web Quest and will read the associated content or view pertinent videos. After learning about how bacteria grow on various kinds of media, the students will be assessed using a “help or harm” style project. In this project, students will be expected to correctly identify bacteria based on their growth, absence of growth, and morphology characteristics on selective or differential media. Photographs will be used, as opposed to physical petri plates or slant tubes of bacteria. The goal of the “help or harm” is to correctly identify the microorganism in order to “help” a hypothetical patient. Students who incorrectly identify the microorganism will “harm” the patient and will receive reduced amounts of points.

Particular media that will be studied include: Eosin Methylene Blue (EMB) agar, Mannitol Salt Agar (MSA), Xylose Lysine Deoxycholate (XLD) agar, blood agar, MacConkey agar, and m-endo agar.