T r o u b l e s h o o t i n g

Here is some advice to make your experience with Project Fung-Al easier!

IMPORTANT: If chemicals are spilled when testing samples, clean all surfaces that the chemicals touched.
If ACIDIC or BASIC: dilute the surfaces with water before wiping it up with a dry paper towel
Wear gloves and goggles when doing chemical tests. If chemical are spilled, change gloves to new ones after cleaning up.
When chemical testing, it is important to wear closed-toed shoes.

IMPORTANT: During our experiment, we had an issue where we mixed up and got all test and samples confused. So, we had to do it all over again. So, from our past experience, it is a good idea to label all samples, data charts, and chemical results the day in which they were collected.
When collecting samples, it is a good idea to label the plastic bags that the samples would be put in (one bag for each sample).
To control for the changes in the amount of the Fungi, do Aluminum Chemical Testing and Serial Dilutions for Fungi at the SAME TIME.
When collecting soil, use fingers instead of other objects like sticks. It decreases the chance of the core soil sample getting contaminated.
When doing chemical testing, always clean equipment so the next sample testing won't be contaminated.
LABEL EVERYTHING!!
Serial Dilutions:

A. When making the dilutions for the yeast/mold media plates, use sterile water.

B. Always change pipettes when putting in another/different sample dilution into a new yeast/mold media plate (EVERY TIME).

C. Put each dilution on their own yeast/mold media plate.

D. Change the serological pipettes every time you are diluting each different sample.

General ( back to the top)

We used the LaMotte Model STH-14 Series Test Kit to perform the Aluminum Chemical Tests. This test kit worked very well. However, there are also other tests kits you can use to perform your experiment which work as well.
We used the 3M Petrifilm^TM Yeast/Mold Count Plate to perform the Serial Dilutions.
If it is Summer when collecting the samples, remember to wear A LOT of bug repellant if in woods or a place with los of mosquitoes. It will definitely make the experience a lot more fun! And also wear sun block.
If there are a lot of mosquitoes and POISON IVY at the sites, it is a good idea to wear jeans (or sweat pants) and long sleeved shirt, even though it is hot. Consider wearing very light weight clothing that covers the whole body.