BISC209/S11: Assignment 209 Lab12

Final Paper: Bacterial Diversity and Abundance in a Soil Community: Co-operation and Competition
Due the last week of classes on your lab day by 4pm.

You will write a full scientific paper on our semester-long project, Diversity and Abundance of Bacteria in a Soil Community found in the Tropical House of the Wellesley College Greenhouses. Required elements are title, abstract (both graphical and in narrative form), introduction, M&M, results (including a narrative as well as figures and/or tables), discussion, references. This research report should use experimental evidence from your work this semester to explore our topic: abundance and diversity in a soil community and to answer our experimental questions: "How many microbes are in our soil community? What is the phylogenetic and functional diversity of the bacteria in this soil community? How do the microbes in this soil community co-operate and compete to exploit the resources available and to fulfill their own metabolic needs, the needs of the microbial community and of the ecosystem?".

In your graded assignments, you have gotten feedback on several partial or draft sections of this paper. Pay close attention your instructor's comments and suggestions and seek clarification if needed. Please refer to information about writing in science style found in the Resources section of this wiki and in Sakai. Particularly helpful is the information found in the Science Writing folder in Resources on Sakai, particularly the Structure of Science Writing Handout. A grading rubric will also be posted there. Please download and refer to it BEFORE and AS you write your paper. Good luck.