Introduction

Purpose, Previous Knowledge, Real-World Application, and Hypothesis  

The Purpose= The purpose of the experiment is to find how temperature effects the growth of E. Coli. It is important to have knowledge of how E. Coli bacteria will respond to various temperatures, because this will lead to the understanding of how to prevent an individual from becoming infected (i.e. at what temperature to store particular meats). In order to figure out how temperature effects E. Coli in our experiment, we heated water to 37C, chilled to 16C, and kept water at “room temperature”, which was 22C. 37C is average body temperature, while 16C is the average temperature on Earth while 22C was the laboratory’s room temperature (which was our controlled variable). It is already known that E. Coli can be contracted from both food and water; more specifically, the bacteria can originate from contaminated foods such as meat that is not fully cooked or raw vegetables. It is important to understand this pattern: raw foods or meats that are not exposed to high temperatures seem to have a greater prevalence of the E. Coli bacteria. Additionally, E. Coli’s structure can be characterized by its single-celled arrangement and “bacilli”, or being rod-shaped shape. Also, E. Coli is “gram negative”, meaning it is a bacteria that has a weak cell wall. The group wanted to know if the background knowledge we had about E. Coli could help us in finding out how temperature effects the growth of E. Coli. This experiment is important because, based on our results, we can help doctors and scientists determine how to limit the growth E. Coli in an individual’s body. This could ultimately lessen the duration of illness or possibly even keep the individual from being infected with this bacterial illness. 

Our Hypothesis= If E. Coli is more prevalent in foods that are raw or undercooked, and is therefore unexposed to specific (relatively high) temperatures, then E. Coli will grow at a faster rate under relatively low temperatures and grow at a slower rate under relatively high temperatures.  

E. Coli Under the Microscope