So, today I improvised for the deep water bath we don't have and took my crock pot to school. I set up a thermometer on a ring stand in it to monitor the temperature of the water, but the only problem was, there was no way to adjust the temp of the crock pot other than High and Low settings! So, the crock pot DID get the agar to melt, but it was either too hot, or by the time I got ready to pour the plates, almost ready to set up again. But, this took the problem of the agar being so hot that it might kill the organisms out of the picture. Anyway, we made it! Other than that, the lab we did today (Can Your Hands and Lab Table Be Sterilized?--Flinn #9) went well. It did not take the whole class period, so I had time for some notes as well. We will do the observations and comparisons on Thursday.
I did this lab differently from the way it called for in the lab manual because I didn't have enough empty screw-capped test tubes available. I made about 1300 mL of nutrient agar last week (in two flasks). That's why I needed to melt them today. I just poured the agar into the plates when the kids were ready. It worked just fine and was a lot less prep work. Next semester, if I have the Lab Techs, we may do the tubes, but if not, this works fine.
Switchgrass is growing, but very slowly. I have GOT to get the pathogens growing, so I can inoculate the plants with them soon. Just not enough TIME!
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