For this exercise you don't have to go out and buy a large bag of dice, just open the dice-roller application at random.org and roll 60 virtual dice. Sixty is the most you can roll at once in the random.org interface.

Look at the results of your dice roll. In this part of the exercise treat each dice as an individual bacterium. Let's begin with a 'normal' population of a pathogen that is highly vulnerable to our antibiotic. If you rolled 1-5 that bacterium is killed by the antibiotic, while rolling a 6 lets the bacterium survive. Count how many bacteria are left after your first dice roll, record that number as the survivor count after dose 1, then choose that number as the number of dice you will roll in your second toss, which represents the second dose in your course of antibiotics.

Apply a second dose, representing a second day of taking your meds. By which I mean, roll the dice again using the same number as survived dose 1. If any bacteria roll a 6 then they survive, otherwise they all are killed. Take note of how many have survived so far, at dose 2.

Roll the dice again and again until you've applied 14 doses. After each dose (dice roll) record how many bacteria have survived. If you run out of bacteria before dose 14 just copy zero all the way down on your spreadsheet to the end.

Next, let's try repeating the experiment with bacteria that are slightly resistant to our antibiotic. Repeat the experiment you just conducted, except this time record the results of an antibiotic dose when the population is killed by a roll of 1-3. In other words, start again with 60 dice and roll them all, record how many survive after each dose where a roll of 4, 5 or 6 allows the bacterium to survive but a roll of 1, 2 or 3 kills the microbe. Record the results of your doses all the way to 14 doses.

Next, repeat the experiment a third time but in this last instance each bacterium survives the antibiotic unless it rolls a 1. In other words in this trial a bacterium is only killed if it rolls a 1, otherwise it survives rolls of 2-6 unscathed. Record the results of your experiment all the way to dose 14.

Question 1

Here's a chance to make a scientific graph. Using the data you obtained by rolling dice to test the survival of bacteria that are unresistant (lives on roll of 6 only), somewhat resistant (lives on roll of 4-6) and highly resistant (only a 1 kills them) through a course of fourteen (14) days of an antibiotic regimen, plot your results.

Specifically, make a plot of dose number (x axis) against surviving number of bacteria (y axis), where your starting values are 60 bacteria in each trial at dose 0. Include axis labels, scales on each axis that are readable and aesthetically non-hideous, and data points for each survival number for each bacterial type after every dose. Also include lines or curves connecting the data points in each set. Use a legend or key to label each set of data so a person can tell what the graph shows.