Innovating Science Introduction to Microbiology: Bacterial Growth and Staining Kit

Got the kit yesterday and it's fantastic. I was really impressed. I highly recommend for anyone who enjoys learning about microbiology and the bacteria around us. I'm an amateur scientist and will be using the kit to identify bacteria in urine samples, however, this kit would be fun even for parents to do with their children or teachers with their students.It came with everything listed and the student and teacher manual separate. The teacher manual is stapled, while the student manual is loose leaf, so it's easy to make copies. The questions are a little heavy for children and are at a high school or college level.If you want to isolate bacteria, you'll need a Bunsen burner or flame tool ( long lighters work fine), an inoculating loop tool, and probably some more petri dishes and agar. The agar in the kit only makes 20 plates, but unless you're getting really crazy with the science, this should be enough. When it comes time, you can just order more agar and plates off amazon for around $20. The gram stain kit will last you a while and you can clean the slides. So the kit is renewable for $20.Also, don't forget the microscope (100x magnification preferred), Kim wipes(for cleaning the microscope), and immersion oil (if you have an oil immersion lense).Beyond that, have fun, learn, and experiment! You will make mistakes, but hey, thats why there's spare plates. So dont sweat it if you mess up a few. For teachers or parents, you might want to pour the plates yourself, thats the only tricky part.

Amazing professional set! not a just a cheap kids toy. My teens are putting away the electronics to experience science with this set.

This is a great kit and I would have no complaints were it not for the fact that the methylene blue was leaking quite a bit when it arrived. It got all over the bottle to the point I can't read the label. Figure about 1/4 of it was wasted leaking out. I can't tell if it was leaking out of the top or if the plastic bottle is cracked somewhere; I wrapped it up in a plastic baggie and haven't yet used it or figured out what I'm going to do about it. Might just have to order a new bottle of methylene blue. Other than that, great kit for the amateur biologist or student.

This kit is ok.The stains work great. So far, no bacteria has grown on the two cultures that I have used with this nutrient agar. I did my first culture on 23 Feb 2017 and I know I performed all the procedures correctly. Bacteria colonies are still not showing. If things develope, I will change my rating....

Missing essential pieces -- cover slips!! Comes with a lot of things, except no cover slips, so you might as well buy only the pieces you need (separately), and make sure you get some cover slips.

Wish I had noticed that slide cover slips are not included in this kit. It's hard to actually get started without cover slips.

They were the best when i moved and at the time i did not open the biology kit yet when i did open it i notice one of the dye bottles had leaked it wasn't the fault of Aldon corporation and they took immediate action and without questions they replaced the entire kit at no charge to me now this something you don't see every day thanks to them i was able to start my new adventure with innovating biology without any problems thank you very much i will enjoy this for some time to come Paul L Stratton

My kids and I love this. Great item for school, college kid. However I highly recommend this item for those who have some basic lab and/or microbiology, biology background.