Introduction:

Over the ages spices have been used both to flavor food and prevent its spoilage.  Strong evidence for the importance of spices is shown in historical records.  Spices have been grown for medicinal purposes since 2800 B.C.  In addition, cultures are often identified by their foods and the spices used in their preparation, for example curry in India, chilies in Mexico, and oregano in Italy.  One of the major reasons Columbus sailed to the New World was to seek out new routes for the spice trade.  Other than gold, the commerce in spices was the most lucrative.

Recently there has been a renewed interest in improving health and fitness through use of more natural products.  Plants, the original source of many of our modern drugs, have evolved methods of protecting themselves against parasites and disease-causing organisms.  It has been suggested that spices, with their strong scents and unique flavors, can actually protect the plant by killing the organisms that could harm them.

Your task is to design an experiment that will determine whether or not a particular spice has any antibacterial activity.

The instructor will provide materials you may want to use.   In addition, your group will be provided with a check-off sheet that must be initialed as you progress on your experimental design. A scoring rubric will also be given to you.

Here are some thoughts you will want to consider as you begin this experiment.

Hypothesis:  What is being tested?
Materials:  What will you need to conduct this experiment?
Procedure:  How will you use the equipment and materials you have requested to run the experiment?
                    What will each team member be doing?
                    What is the control in your experiment?
                    How will you measure your results (all experimental results must be quantifiable)?
                    What will your data table look like?
                    What is the best kind of graph to present your results?
                    What research (Internet search, scientific journals, texts) will you
                    do prior and during your experiment?
                    Who will maintain the official lab notebook?
 
 

                                                           Comments                            Instructor's Initials
 

Hypothesis:    ____________________________________________    _____
 
 

Materials:    _____________________________________________________

                    _____________________________________________________

                    _____________________________________________________

                    ______________________________________________   _____
 

Control:       _____________________________________________________

                    ______________________________________________   _____
 

Procedure:    _____________________________________________________

                     _____________________________________________________

                     _____________________________________________________

                     _____________________________________________   ______
 

Data Table:    ____________________________________________________

                     _____________________________________________   ______
 

Graph Type:  _____________________________________________________

                      ____________________________________________   _______
 

Data analysis Technique: ___________________________________________

                      ____________________________________________   _______
 
 

TOTAL POINTS __________
 
 
 
 

GRADING RUBRIC

Title:                     ___________ pts.

Procedure:             ___________ pts.

Data Table:            ___________ pts.

Graph(s):               ___________ pts.

Discussion:
    * Results            ___________ pts.

    * Importance      ___________ pts.

    * Error analysis   ___________ pts.

Literature Search:    ___________ pts.

Conclusion:             ___________ pts.

Other:                     ___________ pts.

Overall Experimental
            Design:       ___________ pts.
 
 

TOTAL POINTS    ___________

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