Control Group for my science fair project? Science teacher/expert please help!!?

We are doing a science project and our teacher requires us to have a control group. My problem is I don't know what a control group is.


My project is: Does chewing gum increase your mouth's bacteria?


I'm comparing the bacteria growth of chewing gum after meals and not chewing gum after meals. I think my control group would be gum..right?





Also, please help me on how to explain my control group in a detailed format.





Great thanks. All help is appreciated. =)Control Group for my science fair project? Science teacher/expert please help!!?
lol how old are you, sheesh im a kid and i know this one. the control is the person who doesnt chew gum. i mean the exiperement is if chewing gum gives you bactria. so if you dont chew gum thats the control duh anyway hope this helps.Control Group for my science fair project? Science teacher/expert please help!!?
You've already gotten the answer to this question. The control group is the one that doesn't chew gum
Your control group in this case is the group which does not chew gum after meals, but this is real a poor control. A control group is supposed to help eliminate variables that are not being tested. There is one enormous variable that is not controlled. Simply, the act of chewing is likely to alter bacterial growth because it stimulates saliva flow. A better experiment might be to test whether chewing sugared (vs sugarless) gum changes the growth of bacteria in the mouth.
Your hypothesis is probably that chewing gum after meals increases bacteria? The only way you can determine if there is an increase in bacteria from chewing is to compare the amount of bacteria when not chewing. So, chewing gum is the experimental treatment - the thing you are doing to examine its effect. Not chewing is the control - the amount of bacteria without the treatment.





You could reverse the question and ask whether bacteria is reduced when people stop chewing gum, and in that case, chewing would be the control, and not chewing would be the treatment.