Hello, all. So glad you decided to stop by for a minute today! I have an extra special treat prepared just for you….
Without a doubt, the monkeys’ favorite school subject here at Arrow Academy is science. Ty and Lucy really seem to enjoy learning about the world around them. In case you’re out of the loop, we’ve been studying human anatomy and physiology this school year. We’ve covered everything from cells to smells and hearts to f…… well, I guess I won’t go there.
Anyway, last month our science lessons focused on the immune and lymphatic systems. We learned all about pathogens and diseases and how our wonderful Creator designed our bodies with a powerful army of defenders to protect us from germs. Ty and Lucy both found the study of white blood cells to be particularly interesting.
To help the monkeys better understand the microscopic world of germs around them, I decided to order some petri dishes and attempt to grow bacterial colonies.
After discussing options of where to collect bacteria, the monkeys and I decided to take some samples from human and dog mouths.
I don’t know why Lucy found the idea of swabbing to be so repulsive. She was even weirded out by the idea of me swabbing her teeth.
We took four samples in all: one from Lucy, one from Ty, one from our Chihuahua, Coco, and one from our Jack Russell, Dee Dee. Then Ty carefully spread the samples onto the sterile agar plates. In lieu of an incubator, we placed our dishes on top of the freezer where the temperature was a balmy 80 degrees. Then we waited.
What do y’all think we found a couple of days later?
Nasties! That’s what.
Ew, Yuck, and Gross!
Nothing like finding out your kids’ mouths are just as nasty as your dogs’ mouths. (Note to self: add Listerine to the shopping list.)
As you can see, there might have been some error in collecting Ty’s sample. Although his dish was just as gross as the others, it was definitely much different in nature.
I think the monkeys thoroughly enjoyed their little science experiment. I do hope this hands-on experience will help them retain some of the information we talked about.
It’s one thing to read about germs and grossies in a textbook, but to grow them yourself and see them with your own two eyes is a different story. If nothing else, maybe this experiment will inspire the monkeys to be a little more meticulous when it comes to teeth brushing!