Basic Jargon Flashcards
Controlled variable
A variable that is not changed
Dependent variable
The variable that you measure. Goes on the Y-axis
Independent variable
The variable that is changed. Goes on the x-axis
Hypothesis
An educated guess on what you think is going to happen in the experiment
Why one agar plate is left untouched
To ensure the agar is sterile initially so to act as a control - to see if bacteria grows on the agar without exposing it
Why plates are incubated upside down
To prevent condensation from the agar “raining down” on the colonies inhibiting their growth and to prevent colonies from spreading into a single mass
Why bacterial colonies look shiny
Bacterial cells are surrounded by a slimy protective layer called a capsule
Ammonium
The substance found in disinfectant that kills bacteria by causing their cell walls to break
Why bacteria stop reproducing
They run out of nutrients and space or they poisen each other with their wastes (toxins)
Microorganism
Any organism of microscopic or submicroscopic size
Bacteria
Single-celled spherical, spiral or rod-shaped organisms that reproduce using binary fission
Slime capsule
Found on the outside of bacteria to protect it
Cytoplasm
The material within a cell excluding the nucleus
Binary fission
A form of reproduction within single-celled organisms by which one cell divides into 2 cells of the same use
Flagella
Whiplike tails found in one-celled organisms to help them move
