Killer Dandelions?
Dandelions are known by most people as weeds. They are very tough to get rid of because of their long, thick roots, but they cannot be totally considered a nuisance. They have been used for medicinal reasons because dandelion root has been known to inhibit the growth of bacteria. The object of this research project was to test the effects of dandelion root on bacteria. We grew E. coli in petri dishes containing luria broth and dandelion root and some containing just luria broth. After incubating these plates over night, we were able to obtain results. We decided to measure the area of the individual colonies to see if the dandelion root had an effect on colony size. We calculated the area of each colony on each of the plates by finding the approximate diameter of each colony and using that and the formula pr^2. We found that dandelion root did, in fact, have an effect on colony size. After running a t-test, we concluded that our results were probably not because of chance.
Research Done By:
Shaheen Durrani
Sterling
Kristin Hellenburg
Warren Mott
Warren Consolidated Schools