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Two students designed an experiment to investigate antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli bacteria - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 11 - 2021 - Paper 1
Question 11
Two students designed an experiment to investigate antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli bacteria. They began with an E. coli culture. The following procedure w... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Two students designed an experiment to investigate antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli bacteria - VCE - SSCE Biology - Question 11 - 2021 - Paper 1
Step 1
Identify any two controlled variables for this experiment.
Answer
Two controlled variables in this experiment could include:
- Volume of E. coli first applied to plates, which ensures that each plate receives a consistent amount of bacteria.
- Size of plates, which keeps the growth area uniform across all experimental conditions.
Step 2
Write a suitable hypothesis for this experiment.
Answer
If E. coli is exposed to low OR 1 µg/ml concentration of ampicillin, then there will be more growth of E. coli when exposed to increasingly higher levels of ampicillin. This hypothesis is based on the idea that lower concentrations of ampicillin will allow more bacterial growth compared to higher concentrations, which are more likely to inhibit growth or kill the bacteria.