# Any advice on home petri dish experiements

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-advice-on-home-petri-dish-experiements/571373>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 14, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-advice-on-home-petri-dish-experiements/571373 "2011-02-14T22:50:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-advice-on-home-petri-dish-experiements/571373/1 "2011-02-14T22:50:45Z")

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Hey all,

I am going to attempt to do an experiment with petri dishes at the school I am studying at in Nicaragua. I’ve managed to track down unflavored gelatin, but most recipes call for boullion cubes, which I have been unable to find. The only thing I can think of is blending some meat to add to the gelatin, but I’d prefer to avoid that. Can I get away with just Gelatin and sugar? For the actual dishes, I plan on just getting some foam coffee cups, cutting them down a bit, and then covering with plastic wrap and rubber bands. Any problems there, or will that probably work?

Any other tips, related activities, or ideas would be greatly appreciated.