Bacteria Science Kit: Pre-poured LB Agar Plates and Cotton Swabs, E-Book for Science Fair Project with Award Winning Experiments

I used to work in Microbiology and one job in particular pertained to streaking for bacteria and viruses on various types of agar plates. We used to mix up and pour our own plates for most of our plating and only used pre-made blood agar plates for growth isolation. That said, these EZ BioResearch Pre-poured Agar plates worked great for my child's science experiment. Though they were poured on the thin side, they were thick enough to show growth from water that had been filtered using various filtering devices. I was worried that they might dry out while being stored in the refrigerator until we were ready to use them, but they seemed fresh and clear of any contamination. The sterile swabs worked great for our purposes. The 10 plates and swabs gave us enough plates for two runs of our experiment plus controls.I would definitely use these again. The nutrient agar was just what our bacteria wanted and these plates made it clear to us which filtering device was the best, and which one was the worst. Very good plates!

My son found a science experiment on the internet he wanted to do, which was which types of gum affect bacterial growth. The experiment required petri dishes, which we did not have. And to be honest, I had no idea where to find them.On a hunch, I checked Amazon, which amazingly, had them, and had many of them. We had to choose between mix your own, vented, unvented and other variations, all of which we knew nothing about. After some quick internet research, decided to go with "vented" (which basically means that the lids are bigger than the bottoms), and this pack with sterile cotton swabs (to avoid accidental outside infections) seemed like a good choice. The fact that it could be delivered in two days with Amazon Prime sealed the deal.Suffice to say, we did the experiment, and while the results of the experiement were somewhat inconclusive, the school liked it and my son won 2nd place in his grade for this experiment, which was great!With respect to these plates and swabs, the quality is good, but not terrific. Thinking back to my school days, we had glass plates, but it doesn't really make economic or safety sense to use glass in science experiments these days. The agar worked, we found bacteria, but be sure to read the directions. It helps to give your bacterial at least 2-3 days to grow AND to keep them in a room that's about 85 degrees. While this is hard (expensive) to do in the winter, we put these things in the boiler room and then put a space heater in there for good measure. Keeping the door closed for a full day, it held the temperature rather well, and seeing the bacterial growth was pretty cool.So all in all, I'd say these do what they are supposed to do. They may not be the absolute best lab quality, but they are rather good quality and work well. We gave the left over dishes to the school and they were very happy with them.Hope this helps you in your purchasing decision.

Got for kid’s science fair project,came as expected and with easy to follow directions. Was fun to do

I am so glad I read previous reviews that said to put the trays in an incubator after swabbing. We made one in an old 5 gallon aquarium lined with foil, covered with foil, with an incandescent light bulb stuck through the foil to provide some heat. That contributed significantly to the success of my daughter's science experiment, which was who has the most bacteria in their saliva-dogs, hamsters, cats, or people? (turns out it was the hamsters...at least for us)We also followed previous reviewers suggestions to store the plates, once swabbed, upside down so that the condensation would not drip on the medium.Thank you to all the great Amazon reviewers for the helpful tips!It is important to store them in the fridge prior to using the trays.

It's not often you read reviews for sciencey stuff, but when I received these plates, they were packed intelligently and clear of any contamination. I've stored several of these in my compact science fridge, and so far (almost a whole year now) nothing has grown on them.When I opened up these plates, the agar level was pretty consistent and resisted damage pretty well. We collected samples from several sources and incubated them at 37C; we got some marvelous microbial growth. I couldn't tell exactly what grew - we had some molds as well as bacterial colonies (probably E. coli, but without confirmatory tests, I can't say for certain). These plates do not have any extra stuff on them - no antibiotics, no nutrient media, nothing special. But if you want to grow good bacteria or molds, these plates are pretty generic and work very well. Any more precise configurations, and you're better off pouring your plates.And the price is pretty reasonable - again, I have spare plates in my fridge and nothing has grown on them for at least a year (and hopefully for a while longer than that, as long as they're stored properly).

I opened these to use for a science class, and they all have stuff growing in them!

Arrived on time and well packaged. I was successfully able to used all 10 dishes.

Ordered from here before with good results, however this time the plates arrived with several already growing. The agar is obviously good, but my classroom could only do a portion of our planned experiments.

Used this for two of my kids’ science fair projects, and they turned out fantastic!

Arrived in good condition. Sterile. Kept unused portion in fridge for months.

Great Product! Easy to use.

I was so hopeful to use this for a science experiments with kids at my daycare centre. When I opened the package, every single agar plate was covered in mould, and other bacteria growing. So unsafe, not to mention a biohazard for myself and everyone around me. Super disappointed in this.

Terrible product.