Bacteria
Living in Extreme Environments

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Hook
Bacteria can survive in almost any environment. They are found on the tops of mountains, the bottom of the deepest seas, in the hot waters of volcanic hot springs and most recently in the frozen ice, deep in the continental ice sheets covering Antarctica. Discoveries of bacteria in unusual places, such as deep in Antarctic lakes, have led some scientists, like John Priscu of Montana State University, to conclude that there is the possibility for bacteria to survive on some of the ice covered planetary moons in our solar system. These scientists conclude that if microbes can thrive in hostile places on the earth why couldn't they survive in similarly hostile places in the solar system. The Jovian moon, Europa, is considered a possible location for bacteria. This frozen moon has shown evidence of liquid water existing under an icy crust making it a possible source of living bacteria.

Materials
Nutrient agar plates
Nutrient broth tubes

Procedure
In a group of 3 or 4 students, youre task is to develop and conduct a lab investigation that will determine the temperature extremes in which the common bacteria, E. coli can survive. Once the activity is complete you will write up the activity in proper lab format, i.e., Introduction - gives background information; Methodology - how you did the experiment; results - "what you got" (graphs, charts, data, etc); and Conclusion - "why you got the results you got," noting reasons for anything unusual or unexpected.

Discussions Questions/Extensions ......

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