Aseptic TechniqueThe practices that prevent contamination in a microbiology lab.BiologyEducational reference for teaching laboratories.1Disinfect the working surfaceBefore and after.2Work near a flameThe updraught reduces airborne contamination.3Flame the loopUntil red hot, then cool before touching the culture.4Flame the bottle neckOn opening and closing.5Lift the lid at an angleNever fully remove a Petri dish lid.6Tape, invert and incubateInverted stops condensation dropping onto the agar.IN SCHOOLSIncubate at 25°C, not 37°CNever open an incubated plateAutoclave or disinfect all wasteEducational reference. School practice incubates below bodytemperature specifically to reduce the risk of culturing humanAseptic Techniquelearnposters.com
Aseptic Technique — printable life science wall chart from LearnPosters. Free vector PDF, US Letter and A4.

Aseptic Technique, step by step

Educational reference for teaching laboratories.

  1. Disinfect the working surfaceBefore and after.
  2. Work near a flameThe updraught reduces airborne contamination.
  3. Flame the loopUntil red hot, then cool before touching the culture.
  4. Flame the bottle neckOn opening and closing.
  5. Lift the lid at an angleNever fully remove a Petri dish lid.
  6. Tape, invert and incubateInverted stops condensation dropping onto the agar.

In schools

  • Incubate at 25°C, not 37°C
  • Never open an incubated plate
  • Autoclave or disinfect all waste

Educational reference. School practice incubates below body temperature specifically to reduce the risk of culturing human pathogens.

Questions about the Aseptic Technique poster

What’s on the Aseptic Technique poster?
6 numbered steps, with a full worked run-through. Educational reference for teaching laboratories. Disinfect the working surface — Before and after.; Work near a flame — The updraught reduces airborne contamination.; Flame the loop — Until red hot, then cool before touching the culture.; Flame the bottle neck — On opening and closing.; Lift the lid at an angle — Never fully remove a Petri dish lid.; Tape, invert and incubate — Inverted stops condensation dropping onto the agar.. Educational reference. School practice incubates below body temperature specifically to reduce the risk of culturing human pathogens.
Who is the Aseptic Technique poster for?
Aseptic Technique belongs to the Biology section rather than to a school year, because life science is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning microbiology can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
When should you use the Aseptic Technique poster?
Everything that touches the culture must be sterile. Everything. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Aseptic Technique belongs on the wall where that life science work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
What other posters go with Aseptic Technique?
Antibiotic Resistance, How Antibiotics Work and Bacterial Growth sit alongside Aseptic Technique in the Biology section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Antibiotic ResistanceHow Antibiotics WorkBacterial Growth
Is the Aseptic Technique poster free to download and print?
Yes. Aseptic Technique downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Biology section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
What size does the Aseptic Technique poster print at?
Aseptic Technique is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Aseptic Technique loses nothing.Printing guide

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