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Hi Allisa,

A good resource for doing this is described in a chapter from  
Microcosmos: A curriculum guide to exploring microbial space. I think  
Heinneman publishes it.
Jenny Stricker's chapter called Microbial Jello describes how to make  
and pour your own agar (for cultutring many different criiters) and  
to teach kids sterile technique.

The easiest way to do it yourself is to order pre-poured nutrient  
agar plates from Carolina Biological . The simplest do it yourself  
recipe is to mix some broth or a boullion cube in with unflavored  
geletin and boil it or pressure cook it, then pour it into petri  
dishes and let set overnight.

When the kids (or you) test hand washing vs not washing, also label a  
control plate so you can compare all three.
You can let them grow in a dry, dark place (like a desk drawer) a  
room temp for about a week and should get wonderfully nasty results!

Contact me offline if you want to talk this through.

Fred
Fred Stein
Science Educator
Exploratorium Institute for Inquiry
3601 Lyon St.
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 561-0332
fax (415) 561-0307
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On Mar 6, 2008, at 9:25 AM, Daniels, Alissa wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
> Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
> institutions.
> ********************************************************************** 
> *******
>
> So we're doing a program on handwashing, and I'd like to try  
> growing out some petri dishes with samples from pre and post-washed  
> hands. I don't have a proper incubator and am not willing/able to  
> buy one, and am looking for alternatives--a warm window, a toaster  
> oven, the top of a toaster oven.... Anything else that will give me  
> some measure of success.
>
> Any other tips or suggestions are also welcome, as I haven't done  
> this since my freshman year of college (ie, a while ago) when we  
> ran around with Q-tips and swabbed bathrooms, keyboards and  
> anything else we could get at...
>
> thanks,
> AD
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Alissa Daniels, Science Program Manager
> Boston Children's Museum
> 617-426-6500 x342
> www.BostonChildrensMuseum.org
> The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds  
> new discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it!) but "That's  
> funny..."   --Isaac Asimov
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
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